Xbox Doubles Down On Gears Of War: E-Day Exclusivity, Saying It Was Never Discussed For PS5 Despite Evidence Pointing To Otherwise

Ahead of the 2026 Summer Xbox Games Showcase, many assumed Gears of War: E-Day would also be coming to PlayStation 5 alongside Xbox Series X/S and PC – prior messaging pointed toward such a release, as did the release of Gears of War: Reloaded on PS5. But, during the showcase, Xbox revealed that Gears of War: E-Day would be an Xbox console exclusive, launching on Xbox Series X/S and PC on October 6. 

In the days since that announcement, a lot of confusion has arisen from the decision. The Verge reporter Tom Warren and Bloomberg have reported that sources tell them Gears of War: E-Day was, in fact, going to come to PS5, but in a somewhat last-minute decision (the timing of which has been the subject of great debate), Xbox CEO Asha Sharma decided to make the game an Xbox console exclusive. Vice president of Xbox games marketing Aaron Greenberg responded to Warren on X, stating, “Hey Tom, I can confirm this [the last-minute decision] is not true. We just limited the knowledge of this news to a very small internal group. Intention was to share this news first with our players and everyone watching showcase.” 

In that same X discussion, Warren references an official Xbox podcast with the Gears of War: E-Day key art and the PS5 logo visible at the bottom, suggesting it was perhaps set to launch on the competitor platform, as noted by Eurogamer. You can see it in the image from Warren below: 

There’s also the PEGI rating for Gears of War: E-Day on PS5 that went live before the showcase, as caught by Eurogamer (though the PEGI ratings board has since updated it to reflect just Xbox Series X/S and PC), as well as a Walmart listing for a PS5 version of the game, as reported by IGN. Of course, PEGI and Walmart are not part of Xbox, so these listings could have just been mistakes or guesses. 

In a new interview with Eurogamer, however, studio heads at Gears of War: E-Day developer The Coalition indicate that the team never publicly discussed releasing the game on PlayStation 5. “We never talked about it going to PS5,” studio creative director Matt Searcy told the publication. Studio brand director Nicole Fawcette added, “It was never changed.” Searcy continued, “I would say that Gears as an exclusive makes a ton of sense. It’s kind of an honor, and exciting, to be one of the Xbox flagship titles.” 

So today, it’s a bit of he-said, she-said. Some evidence points to a PS5 version of the game, including Giant Bomb president and co-owner Jeff Grubb saying on Bluesky, “So yeah, there’s a basically finished version of Gears for PlayStation sitting on a drive.” But official Xbox messaging indicates otherwise. Nonetheless, Gears of War: E-Day will launch as an Xbox console exclusive on Xbox Series X/S and PC on October 6. 

[Sources: Eurogamer, IGN, The Verge, Bloomberg, Giant Bomb]

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