Gears of War: E-Day had a strong start on Xbox, ranking fourth among games by global player activity on October 6, according to Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker.
Circana Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor Mat Piscatella shared the figure on Bluesky, saying the game ranked behind Fortnite, Roblox and NBA 2K27. Piscatella also said the average Xbox player spent more than 200 minutes playing Gears of War: E-Day on launch day.
The game launched on October 6 across Xbox Series X|S, PC and Game Pass. Developed by The Coalition, it serves as a prequel to the original Gears of War, taking players back to Emergence Day 14 years before the events of the 2006 game.
Gears of War: E-Day follows a young Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago as the Locust Horde launches its invasion of humanity. The game uses Unreal Engine 5 and returns to the series’ third-person cover shooting while leaning into the darker atmosphere of its earlier entries.
Piscatella’s figures only cover Xbox player engagement on October 6, so they don’t provide a complete picture of the game’s performance across PC or Game Pass.
