The Launch Update for Gears Of War E-Day has been announced. The first patch is already available to download on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
The update introduces several gameplay fixes, specifically addressing the balance of weapons, movement, and cover mechanics. It also includes fixes for some bugs and improvements aimed at providing greater overall game stability.
The update also brings fixes and changes to other popular game modes, such as Horde Siege and Versus.
The developers are aware of other issues that have not yet been resolved, meaning that some frustrating problems affecting the gameplay experience will have to wait for the next patch. Below, we have included the full list of fixes from the Launch Update released by the software house.
Tuning
- Weapon Tuning:
- Adjusted Prototype Lancer damage to a value in-between Beta weekend 1 and 2
- Reduced Lancer Mk1 damage
- Reduced Vulcan damage
- Increased Hammerburst damage
- Increased damage of the Gnasher while ADS at range
- Improved Gnasher hipfire consistency
- Reduced rate of fire for the Snub
- Reduced the Gut-Puncher spare ammo amount
- Movement & Cover Tuning:
- Improved strafe movement responsiveness
- Adjustments to cover enter speed and distance of cover-enter cancel
- Reduced Cover Slip speed
- Reduced Slide distance
- Horde Siege Tuning:
- Adjustment of brightness and opacity of Energy icons
- Adjusted the difficulty of Repair objectives
- Decreased the health threshold at which a Boomer, Flayer, or Grinder can be executed with a Prototype Lancer
- Reduced Weapon Part Rewards for participation in invasions
- Reduced Weapon Part Rewards for Weapon Part Stockpiles
- Increased the difficulty of all Invasions
- Increased the difficulty of Commander and Allfather difficulties
- Adjusted the Medic’s stim duration
- Increased equipment costs
- Reduced the impact of some Squad Perks
- Increased the Energy cost of Squad Perks
- Versus Tuning:
- Reduced the wave respawn time
- Reduced frequency of trading to feel more fair and consistent
- Adjusted Scoring in Demolition
- Adjusted Scoring in Crucible
Bug Fixes:
- Across PC, XBOX and handhelds, we made numerous improvements to stability, performance and optimization across applicable hardware configurations
- On PC, we addressed a bug causing graphics settings to reset between launches
- Made adjustments to prevent macro abuse of semi-automatic weapons
- On PC, we addressed an issue causing missing VFX on explosions when set to Low quality settings
- On “Legacy” control settings, fixed an issue causing an inconsistent Sprint release delay
- On PC, fixed an issue causing additional input delay when playing on mouse and keyboard
- On PC, fixed an issue causing mouse & keyboard lighting effects to not display properly
- In Horde Siege, fixed an issue causing Tickers not to be properly flung when kicked
- In Horde Siege, fixed an issue causing blast charges delivered during the Corpser Invasion Event to not register
- Fixed an issue allowing players to shoot enemies not in front of their barrel when aiming down sights
- Fixed an issue causing versus ranked or social players to get stuck at the “Waiting for Other Players” screen
- Fixed an issue causing destructible assets to ‘stick’ to players
- Fixed an issue where Marksman UAV visual effect might persist
- Improved the reliability of starting objectives in Horde Siege
- Improved the reliability of switching which squadmate you are spectating when cog tagged in Horde Siege
- Fixed an issue where Tickers were immune to Gorehooks
- Fixed an issue allowing more than four squad members in Versus
- Fixed an issue where abandoned turrets could not be interacted with
- Fixed visual issues with ranking up from Onyx 3
- Fixed an issue where boss health bars and locators could scale incorrectly
- Fixed multiple issues where specific enemies may not be able to path at certain objectives
- Fixed multiple issues that would prevent objectives from completing in Horde Siege
- Fixed multiple inconsistencies and interaction errors in the Horde Siege lobby and Barracks
- Fixed multiple scoring inconsistencies and errors
- Fixed multiple matchmaking errors and timeouts
- Fixed an issue where Mortar strike vfx could appear without cause
- Fixed an issue where TDM matches would end too early
QoL & Feedback
- On all platforms, we added an FOV slider
- On all platforms, we improved HDR calibration, made UI paper-white adjustment independent
- On all platforms, we added the ability to disable Chromatic Aberration
- On all platforms, we added the ability to disable Film Grain
- On PC, Max FPS can be set to 30, 60, 90, 120, 144, 240, or Unlimited
- On PC, setting Max FPS to “Unlimited” will not cap your framerate
- On PC, multi frame generation is now optionally supported
- On PC, we added a setting to allow players to enable or disable Lamp device support for mouse and keyboard lighting
- On XBOX, “The Lucky Ones Died on E-Day” achievement has been removed in order to support the upcoming Mythic Achievements feature. Players will still earn the “I AM A GEAR” Player Title upon completing all other achievements and the achievement remains on Steam
- In multiplayer, adjusted Player XP to better align the rate of progression across Horde Siege and Versus
- Made improvement to Backfill AI bot behavior
Advanced Shader Delivery
- On PC, Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) is a new feature that significantly reduces the time spent compiling shaders across different PC hardware configurations. It benefits Gears of War: E-Day and other supported games across the Xbox PC app
- For launch, ASD will be supported on AMD hardware, with NVIDIA support coming later in October
- Playing E-Day outside the Xbox PC app? You may still benefit from ASD if the Xbox PC app is installed on your Windows 11 PC, allowing the required shaders to be pre-installed
In addition, the content planned for the first two seasons has been revealed.
Season 1: Emergence
Season 1 will begin with the Early Access launch of Gears of War: E-Day and will run for eight weeks, through December 1. The length of future post-launch seasons may vary, with the exact dates to be announced closer to the start of each season.
Season 1 will include all of the maps, modes, and cosmetics available at launch, along with three limited-time themed events: Halloween, 20 Years of Gears, and Thanksgibbing. Each event will last for two weeks and will feature a Versus Event mode, a Horde Siege Event mission, and exclusive rewards.
More details about each event will be shared as their respective start dates approach. In the meantime, here is what players can expect from Season 1: Emergence:
- Ranked: Versus Ranked will officially become available one week after launch, on October 13. This will give players some time to familiarize themselves with the maps, modes, and sandbox before entering competitive play.
- Weekly Challenges: The weekly challenges available to Premium Edition owners on October 1 will be the same challenges that all players receive at launch on October 6. The weekly challenges will then refresh on October 13.
- Shop: Shop offers will rotate every Tuesday. Players should also check the Shop each week for free featured gifts.
- Never Fight Alone Charity Bundle: 100% of the net revenue from the Never Fight Alone Year 5 bundle, which includes an exclusive skin and weapon skin set, as well as the Never Fight Alone Legacy set, will go to partner organization Crisis Text Line as part of the initiative to prevent suicide.
- Promotional Items: Cosmetic items that are initially available exclusively through limited-time partnerships will be added to the Barracks and made available for Coins and Iron once the partnership exclusivity period ends.
- Gears of War: Reloaded Rewards: To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original Gears of War, exclusive rewards will be available to commemorate players who have engaged with Gears of War: Reloaded.
- Fire and Fenix Pose: Complete the “Prison Breakout” Xbox Achievement in Gears of War: Reloaded.
- Old Guard Medal & “Locked n’ Reloaded” Title: Complete the “Re-Up” Xbox Achievement in Gears of War: Reloaded.
Season 2: Legacy and Beyond
Season 2 will be called Legacy and will celebrate the franchise’s 20th anniversary with content inspired by some of the greatest moments in Gears of War. Designed as a tribute to the franchise and its fans, the season will introduce a large amount of new content based on some of the series’ most memorable moments.
The celebrations will begin slightly early with a special birthday gift for all Gears of War: E-Day players on November 7, the actual date of the franchise’s 20th anniversary.
When the achievement list for Gears of War: E-Day was made public earlier this summer, players may have noticed that the traditional Seriously achievement is returning in E-Day under the name Dead Serious.
Players who complete the Dead Serious achievement will receive an exclusive Medal, Player Title, Banner, Emblem, Icon, and, for the first time in the history of the franchise, a Legendary Character skin. The reward skin for Dead Serious will be revealed at the beginning of Season 2.
As previously announced, Gears of War: E-Day will have at least five post-launch seasons. The names of the upcoming seasons are:
- Season 3: Infiltration
- Season 4: Pendulum
- Season 5: Devotion
Gears Of War E-Day is set to release on October 6 for Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam. To stay up to date with the latest news, in-depth articles, guides and much more, you can also follow our social media channels on Facebook, X, Telegram, Discord, YouTube and TikTok.
