AMD has released its latest graphics driver, Adrenalin Edition 26.7.1, delivering optimisations ahead of the upcoming multiplayer beta for Gears of War: E‑Day. The new driver also expands FSR 4 support and introduces compatibility for AMD’s newest entry‑level RDNA 4 GPU.

With this update, AMD has put optimisations in place for the Gears of War: E‑Day Open Beta happening in August, ahead of its full launch in early October. The driver also adds FSR 4 support for additional titles, including Out of Control Evolution, continuing AMD’s push to expand adoption of its latest upscaling technology.

Alongside the software improvements, Adrenalin Edition 26.7.1 introduces support for the newly announced Radeon RX 9050 graphics card. Positioned as an affordable RDNA 4 option for APJ and Latin American markets, the RX 9050 launches at an SEP of $279 and brings the latest Radeon feature set to mainstream gamers.

The driver also includes a number of fixes, addressing issues such as model flickering in Cinema 4D and Blender, intermittent crashes with FSR Upscaling 4.1 on Windows 10, and rendering problems with Fortnite’s directional indicators on Radeon RX 7000‑series GPUs. AMD has also listed several known issues, including intermittent crashes or driver timeouts in Battlefield 6 on Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 systems, texture flickering when using Record and Stream, and Smart Access Memory becoming disabled after installation on Windows 10.

KitGuru Says: With Gears of War: E‑Day’s multiplayer beta approaching, Radeon users will want to grab this driver to ensure the best experience. As always, let us know how you get on with the latest drivers and if you run into any problems.

A new look at Gears of War E-Day is coming soon. The Coalition has announced that it will reveal the game’s multiplayer modes next week during a special livestream, giving fans their first proper breakdown of PvP and the expanded co‑op horde experience. The announcement confirms that both modes will be showcased in detail.

Gears of War E-Day is set to feature traditional PvP arenas, keeping the competitive side of the series focused on smaller, tighter maps. On the co‑op front, the new Horde mode will introduce larger environments and expanded mechanics compared to Gears 5, aiming to deliver the biggest horde experience the franchise has offered so far.

On PC, E-Day will launch with support for Nvidia DLSS 4.5, offering improved upscaling and frame generation support. As previously confirmed, the game is built using Unreal Engine and incorporates new rendering technologies like MegaLights for more realistic ray‑traced shadows, alongside Lumen for RT global illumination and ambient occlusion.

Beyond multiplayer, E-Day serves as a prequel to the original trilogy, bringing Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago back as the main protagonists during the Locust’s first invasion of Earth.

Gears of War E-Day is due to release on October 6th for PC and Xbox Series X/S consoles. While previously it looked like the game would also come to PS5, Microsoft's new leadership has decided that it needs exclusives again. As a result, Gears of War E-Day, Clockwork Revolution and other upcoming titles will be Xbox console exclusive.

KitGuru Says: Are you looking forward to Gears of War E-Day? 

Seven years on from the release of Gears 5, The Coalition is back with a new game. Gears of War E-Day is now scheduled to release in early October, with a multiplayer beta test taking place in August for those who want to try it out early. On PC, the game will launch with Nvidia's latest DLSS features.

Gears of War E-Day will support DLSS 4.5 at launch, Nvidia confirmed today. The new game is a prequel to the original trilogy, rather than a sequel to Gears 5. As a result, fan favourite characters, Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago are back in the spotlight as the main protagonists, with both fighting back the Locust horde during their first invasion of earth.

Like all previous Gears of War titles, E-Day is built using Unreal Engine. This time around, The Coalition is implementing new tech like MegaLights for more realistic ray-traced shadows, and Lumen for RT global illumination and ambient occlusion. The game also promises more advanced real-time destruction for more explosive set pieces throughout the campaign.

Aside from the single-player campaign, Gears of War E-Day will also offer traditional PvP multiplayer modes, as well as the series' biggest co-op horde mode to date.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking up Gears of War E-Day when it drops in October?

In amongst a plethora of bad news pertaining to Microsoft and its cutting of over 3000 Xbox employees (while parting ways with 5 of its studios), the console maker is continuing to truck along with business as usual. As part of this, Microsoft has now officially detailed all of the titles “coming soon” to Xbox Game Pass.

Taking to their Xbox Wire blog to make the announcement, Microsoft unveiled the line-up of Xbox Game Pass titles set to drop onto the service between now and the 3rd week of July:

• Gears of War: Reloaded – 9th July
• Tamashika – 9th July
• Ascend to Zero – 13th July
• PBA Pro Bowling 2026 – 14th July
• Quarantine Zone: The Last Check – 15th July
• Mavrix by Matt Jones – 16th July
• FixForce – 17th July
• Fogpiercer – 17th July
• The Planet Crafter – 21st July
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 – 21st July

Full details on the line-up (including which tiers are getting what) can be found HERE. Overall however, July looks to be one of Game Pass’ weaker offerings.

Unfortunately, the announcement of new Game Pass titles also comes alongside its own downsides, with the following set to depart from the service on the 15th of July:

• Dungeons of Hinterberg
• EA Sports Football Club 24
• Stellaris
• Golf With Your Friends
• Minami Lane
• Powerwash Simulator
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider Definitive Edition
• Splitgate: Arena Reloaded
• Super Fantasy Kingdom
• Techtonica

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KitGuru says: What do you think of July’s offerings? Is more being gained than lost? What games do you think will be included in July’s second drop? Let us know down below.

Ever since she was appointed as the new head of Xbox, Asha Sharma has been quite vocal, expressing thoughts on the console maker’s past mistakes, future prospects and more. In an interesting little anecdote, Sharma recently claimed that the FPS juggernaut Call of Duty is “bigger than the Marvel Cinematic Universe” – though no specifics were shared.

Taking part in an interview with the publication Entertainment Weekly, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and CCO Matt Booty sat down to discuss the future of Xbox, particularly when it comes to their Hollywood ambitions.

For the uninitiated, Microsoft recently offered a major update on their previously-announced Gears of War film, while also revealing that a live-action adaptation of Rare’s Sea of Thieves has now started development. This of course comes in the wake of their highly successful Minecraft film, their popular Fallout show (and far less successful Halo TV show).

In discussing the potential for other franchise adaptations, Booty stated: “We've got over 20 franchises that have made a billion dollars, lifetime. I feel a lot of responsibility to shepherd that. We're the stewards of that IP. We're not the owners, because really, the communities own those.”

Perhaps the most interesting comment came from Asha Sharma however, who followed up by claiming: “You won't see us try to become the biggest linear provider in the world or anything like that, but I think great games are culture, and culture is entertainment. If you think about it, we've got the number two show of all time on Amazon [Fallout], Minecraft was top 5 in 2025, Call of Duty is bigger than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So it all measures. [There's] more appetite to work with us on titles than ever before.”

While no specifics were shared with regards to data, Amazon’s Fallout Show did reportedly have the second biggest debut on Prime with 65 million viewers during its first two weeks (only being beaten out by LoTR: The Rings of Power).

When it comes to Call of Duty, the FPS series has supposedly made around $31 Billion in its lifetime – slightly under the $35 Billion attributed to the MCU. That said, it appears as though merchandising has not been factored into these figures, and so the real value of each IP is perhaps a bit vague.

Either way, Call of Duty is one of the biggest video game franchises of all time, and so it will be interesting to see how successful the upcoming COD film winds up being.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Sharma’s statement? Do you agree? How much money will the Call of Duty film make at the box office? Let us know down below.

Back in 2022, it was officially announced that Microsoft had struck a deal with Netflix to produce a number of Gears of War-related projects, confirming at the time that both a live-action film as well as an animated show would be on their way. Since then, we’ve heard little from the projects. With the long-awaited Gears of War E-Day finally set to launch soon however, we’ve now gotten new details on the live-action adaptation.

As reported by the publication ‘Entertainment Weekly’ the live-action Gears of War Netflix film has gotten its first proper set of details.

Officially being produced and directed by Devid Leitch (the co-creator of John Wick and director of Deadpool 2; Bullet Train and The Fall Guy), initial plot details for the Gears film have been shared: “The origin story of Delta Squad, a ragtag crew of soldiers who wage a desperate war for survival against the Locust, a race of subterranean creatures set on destroying humanity.”

Speaking on the adaptation, Xbox CCO Matt Booty told the publication: “The game really is about the bonds between teams. It's about brotherhood at its core. When you go visit the studio, their tagline is ‘Never Fight Alone.’ So when you think about that for a dramatic narrative, it's a pretty good starting point.”

As of now, no further details have been shared, with the only other confirmed fact being that Dune writer Jon Spaihts will be involved in its scripting.

As mentioned, Gears of War E-Day is almost upon us, with the Xbox console exclusive set to arrive this October. While it appears as though the film is still a bit too far away for any significant tie-ins with the upcoming game, here’s to hoping that we learn more details in the coming months – especially the film’s cast of characters / actors.

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KitGuru says: Are you interested in Netflix’s Gears of War film? How do you think it will compare to Xbox’s other adaptations (Halo)? Let us know down below.

Following Microsoft’s recent Xbox Games Showcase, there have been a number of leaks from across the board claiming that the console maker is planning some pretty brutal cuts, with multiple internal studios potentially set to be shut down. While they have yet to officially comment on the matter, Microsoft have now spoken on other matters instead, confirming that they will be present at the upcoming Gamescom in August.

Taking to social media to make the announcement, Xbox confirmed that they will make their presence known during Gamescom 2026, writing:

“XBOX + gamescom + FanFest… see you there. Be among the first to play what’s next – including the Gears of War: E-Day campaign. Stay tuned for more.”

While exciting to some, the post has seen some backlash, with users pointing out the ill-timing of the announcement alongside the fact that they have yet to address the elephant in the room – that being the impending and expected studio closures.

This is doubly so the case when considering the fact that the likes of Ninja Theory are reportedly on the chopping block despite literally announcing a brand new game during the most recent Xbox showcase.

All-in-all, it seems as though Microsoft have no plans to alter their current marketing in the wake of these ongoing rumours. It will be interesting to see what exactly occurs between now and when Gamescom goes live on the 26th of August.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of this most recent announcement? Should Microsoft have read the room? Let us know your thoughts down below.

There’s been a ton of talk surrounding Xbox and its future in the wake of the console maker’s recent games showcase. While much of the discourse has come in the form of reports that multiple studios under Microsoft could be in danger of closing, the other side pertains to their recent announcements that Gears of War E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will be console exclusives. Doubling down on this fact, Microsoft have now countered rumours claiming that these two titles could find their way elsewhere later on, stating “There are no conversations and have been no conversations to reverse course.”

Following the unexpected announcement that Xbox’s upcoming Gears of War E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will be console exclusives, rumours began popping up claiming that both titles could still find their way over to the likes of PS5 should this recent pivot fail to yield desirable results.

While seemingly unfounded, the rumours did appear to have some merit, especially due to the fact that Gears of War E-Day was initially being developed for the PS5 – so much so that Microsoft themselves accidentally included the console’s logo in some of their marketing (though it was later removed).

Addressing these reports directly, Xbox Chief Strategy Office Matthew Ball took to Twitter to refute the claims, stating: “These rumors are false. Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will stay exclusive. There are no conversations and have been no conversations to ‘reverse course.’ And as we said last week, players can continue to expect signature exclusives from us every year.”

Curiously, it seems as though Microsoft have yet to comment on the other major leak / rumour; that being the fact that major lay-offs and potential studio closures are impending. Regarding the exclusives talk, we will simply have to wait and see whether Xbox is being truthful. Even so, as Xbox CEO Asha Sharma famously said: “The plan’s the plan until it’s not the plan” – so who knows.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Ball’s statement? Can Xbox’s word be trusted? Have they been talking too much? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Following on from the Gears of War E-Day showcase earlier this month, the team at The Coalition has now revealed the game's minimum and recommended PC system requirements. As Nvidia no longer supports GTX 10 series GPUs with new driver optimisations, we are starting to see most new games dropping GTX 10 from the minimum requirements section, and Gears of War E-Day continues that trend. 

Anyone looking to install Gears of War E-Day will need to make sure they have a good chunk of SSD space cleared, as it will be a 130GB install, a figure that includes the full campaign, the multiplayer modes, as well as the co-op horde mode.

Here are the minimum PC system requirements for Gears of War E-Day:

• OS: Windows 10 (22H2 update)
• RAM: 12GB
• CPU: Ryzen 5 2600X or Core i7-6850K
• GPU: RTX 2060 or RX 6600

And here are the recommended PC system requirements for the game:

• OS: Windows 11 (25H2 update)
• RAM: 16GB
• CPU: Ryzen 5 5600 or Core i5-11600K
• GPU: RTX 3060 Ti or RX 6700 XT

Gears of War E-Day is due to launch on October 6th. While it was originally planned for PS5, it will now be an Xbox console exclusive, with a day-one PC release too. The game will also be playable from day-one for all PC Game Pass subscribers, or Game Pass Ultimate on console.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking up Gears of War E-Day when it drops? 

Following their official deep-dive on the upcoming Gears of War E-Day, the team at studio ‘The Coalition’ have been sharing new details pertaining to the impending Xbox console exclusive. Alongside new information on just how long the campaign will be, it was also confirmed that no Generative AI was used during any part of the game’s development – increasingly becoming a marketing bullet point.

Taking part in an interview with IGN, The Coalition’s creative director Matt Searcy, brand director Nicole Fawcette, and art director Aryan Hanbeck sat down to discuss various aspects of Gears of War E-Day, including changes to movement mechanics; how they are preserving Gears’ lore and plenty more.

Speaking on the campaign, Searcy confirmed that E-Day is “longer than any campaign [The Coalition has] built” sitting at around 14 hours while featuring more collectibles than any prior title – lending itself to greater replayability.

For context, most Gears of War games have landed at around the 10 hour mark for their main stories, with the primary exception being Gears 5 at 11-12 hours. Given this, 14 hours should represent a nice uptick in the amount of playable content while not dragging on for too long.

In even better news, the team confirmed that no generative AI was used during any part of Gears of War E-Day’s development, with creative director Matt Searcy stating: “We have a kickass concept art team, and our art book is going to rock.”

Given that a number of game announcements during the past week have disclosed their use of GenAI during the game-making process, it is refreshing to see The Coalition seemingly taking a hard stance against the controversial technology.

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KitGuru says: Are you excited for Gears of War E-Day? Is the use of GenAI a dealbreaker for you? What do you think of the campaign’s expected length? Let us know down below.

Following Microsoft’s recent Xbox Games Showcase, the higher-ups at the company have been talking quite a bit about their plans for the future – particularly regarding their return to console exclusives. Despite some mixed messaging, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has now claimed that they plan to make more Xbox games exclusive once “the business is healthy.”

Discourse surrounding the Xbox Games Showcase has primarily revolved around the console maker’s confirmation that Gears of War E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will be exclusive to Xbox on the console side of things.

Attention was then brought to the subject matter further when Xbox CCO Matt Booty claimed that their strategy revolved around a “case by case” basis, adding that “our big multiplayer games, our big live service games are going to continue to be multiplatform.”

This of course sparked some confusion, as the aforementioned Gears of War E-Day will have a major multiplayer element to it. Meanwhile, the newly announced Spyro: A Realm Beyond and Senua are single-player affairs, yet are still coming to multiple platforms.

Speaking on all of this, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma offered her own explanation, stating via a recent interview: “I think that we are the number 2 publisher in the world, and when you do that you want your games to be everywhere. You're stronger when the world plays with you. At the same time, we're increasingly becoming more of a platform, and it's hard to find examples of platforms out there that don't have exclusive services and content.”

Sharma continued, “This is a journey for us. Our business isn't particularly healthy, as you noted, and we're starting by introducing 1 or 2 signature exclusives, and as the business is healthy, we will look to try and do more.”

Based on the wording, it seems as though Xbox is now doing a reverse on their previous “4 games” experiment, in which a small number of exclusives were ported over to PS5. As those titles sold, more ports were later announced.

Given Asha’s statement, it is safe to assume that should these two exclusives fail to make a splash on Xbox, then they might revise the strategy – and should they end up being system sellers, then we can expect more Xbox exclusives.

Regardless, it seems like Xbox’s new strategy is still in its early days, and so we will have to wait and see what becomes of it.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Sharma’s statement? Did this offer any additional clarity? Do you think Microsoft will go back fully to exclusives? Let us know down below.

One of the biggest talking points surrounding Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase was the fact that the publisher would be returning to console exclusives – sort of. While Gears of War E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are now set to be limited to the Xbox Series X/S (on consoles at least), the former was seemingly initially planned to also arrive on PlayStation 5. Additionally, insiders have claimed that Halo Campaign Evolved was initially going to be featured at Sony’s State of Play…until Microsoft changed their minds.

In the immediacy following Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase, it was discovered that Gears of War E-Day appeared to have been initially planned to be a multi-platform release, with a (now delisted) Xbox Podcast video featuring the PlayStation 5 logo at the end of the trailer.

Adding to this, according to known insider Chris Dring (and seeming partially corroborated by other known-insider Tom Warren) Microsoft had originally planned to show off Halo Campaign Evolved during PlayStation’s recent State of Play – though later “decided against it, which has angered Sony.”

As mentioned by Dring, the Halo reports are simply “gossip” and so should be taken with a pinch of salt. That said, there is no denying that there appears to be some weirdness going on at Xbox currently. Hopefully a clearer plan is made evident as time goes on.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Xbox going back partially to exclusives? Is there any rhyme or reason for the titles selected? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Just a few hours ahead of the Xbox Games Showcase 2026, insider Jeff Grubb revealed during a Giant Bomb stream that The Coalition's Gears of War: E-Day was supposed to launch on PlayStation 5 but won't anymore. I'll say it here. Gears of War: E-Day was going to be on PS5; it's not anymore. That just happened. Like, it's a decision that just got made. And it's like, they're going backwards on this stuff where they were like, this battle doesn't make any sense. Indeed, Microsoft had chosen to go fully multiplatform with many of its games. Gears of War: […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/gears-of-war-e-day-xbox-exclusive-ps5/

June is coming up, which means we are due for a ton of game reveals and release date announcements from major publishers across the industry. Thanks to ratings board leaks, we know of at least four titles due to get major announcements in the coming weeks. 

Earlier this month we learned that The Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea had updated its listing for Fable, indicating that Xbox will finally announce the game's release date during its showcase next month. Now, the same ratings board has updated listings for several other titles.

For starters, it looks like Paradox Interactive has teamed up with Lego for a new version of Cities Skylines, titled Lego Skylines. Persona 4 Revival has also been listed, which means Sega will finally show off more of the game, following the short 30-second teaser last year.

As spotted by Gematsu, the likes of Ace Combat 8, Gears of War E-Day and even Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy also appear. However, we already knew that Gears of War E-Day would be a major highlight of the next Xbox showcase. In the case of Guardians of the Galaxy, we are likely looking at a new Switch 2 port of the game.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Persona 3 Reload was great so I have high hopes for Persona 4 Revival. Lego Skylines should be very interesting to see as well – the Lego aesthetic will work very well for a city-builder. 

We already know that Gears of War E-Day is set to be a big part of Xbox's summer showcase plans. Now, a different marketing deal between Xbox and the WWE may have revealed the game's planned release date ahead of the announcement in June. 

As spotted by GamesRadar, WWE subsidiary, Lucha Libre, recently began advertising its WWE Triplemania 34 event, due to take place in September. The announcement revealed that Gears of War E-Day will be one of the main sponsors for the event.

With the event taking place between the 11th and 13th of September, it is now expected that the new Gears game will become available around the same time, well ahead of the launch of GTA 6, which is expected to eat up the majority of games sales in November.

If all goes to plan this year, Xbox will have a hugely busy Summer and Q3 period, with Halo: Campaign Evolved, Gears E-Day and Fable all expected to release within a short timespan.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: As much as I've enjoyed the newer Gears of War games, a return to the Marcus Fenix era in Gears E-Day is far more exciting to me than a Gears 6 at this point. 

Cliff Bleszinski, the American game designer known primarily for his work on the Gears and Unreal franchises at Epic, shared his positive outlook on the upcoming prequel, Gears of War: E-Day. In a video interview with The Expansion Pass, the game developer highlights that The Coalition has made the right choice in focusing on making the Locust scary again, rather than presenting enemies like the DeeBees robots. Bleszinski added that he has high hopes for this game, which looks like a return to the original trilogy's dark tone that was a bit lost in Gears 4 and 5, and he […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/gears-of-war-e-day-bleszinski-righting-ship-robots/

The Gears of War series remains as one of the big 3 Xbox franchises in many people’s eyes (alongside Halo and Forza), with the long-awaited Gears of War: E-Day set to be its big return following roughly half-a-decade of absence. Ahead of the game’s big blowout event scheduled for this June, Xbox’s CCO Matt Booty has offered some slight teasers on what to expect from the upcoming presentation.

Right at the tail-end of last month, Microsoft officially unveiled their plans for this Summer, confirming that they will be hosting an Xbox Games Showcase on the 7th of June – followed immediately by a dedicated Gears of War: E-Day Direct. At the time, this was all that was shared.

Taking to the official Xbox podcast however, Chief Content Officer Matt Booty offered some new and ancillary details regarding what to expect from the E-Day segment, stating:

“I’ll say that we’ve got the Gears Direct coming, and after seeing that, we’ve probably got like a full 30 minutes, which is really great. And I don’t know. I just love everybody in that studio, the work they’re doing. I’m excited about the game, and we’re going to have a fantastic, full 30 minutes of stuff to see.”

While not the most concise of revelations, it is interesting to learn that we will be getting a full 30 minutes of Gears of War: E-Day footage – especially as all we have seen so far has been a brief cinematic teaser from back in 2024.

Though far from being in its peak popularity-wise, Gears of War remains one of Xbox’s most iconic franchises, and so it will be interesting to see what The Coalition have in store for fans.

KitGuru says: Are you looking forward to Gears of War: E-Day? How different do you expect it to be compared to previous entries? Is Gears still one of Xbox’s big 3? Let us know your thoughts down below.