Gears of War: E-Day Breaks Steam Record in First 24 Hours

Gears of War: E-Day hit 20,374 concurrent players on Steam in its first 24 hours, doubling Gears 5's record and earning praise for Xbox Series S.

Did you expect Gears of War: E-Day to come out swinging? Well, it did just that. In just 24 hours, the latest Xbox first-party release has already smashed a major Steam record, and it's got people talking about the Xbox Series S for all the right reasons.

According to data spotted by HazzadorGamin, Gears of War: E-Day peaked at 20,374 concurrent players on Steam. That's a huge jump from the previous record held by Gears 5, which topped out at 10,196 players. In other words, E-Day has already doubled the franchise's all-time Steam concurrent record in its first day.

Now, it's worth noting that this early access period is only for Premium Upgrade, Premium Edition, and Collector's Edition owners. That means the full launch hasn't even happened yet. If these numbers are already this high with a limited group of players, imagine what will happen when the gates open for everyone else.

The strong start isn't just about raw numbers, though. The game has also earned praise for its performance on the Xbox Series S, which is often the console that gets the most scrutiny when it comes to optimizing new releases. It seems E-Day is running well on the less powerful hardware, which is a win for Xbox fans who opted for the affordable next-gen option.

For a franchise as beloved as Gears of War, this kind of debut is exactly what you want to see. It shows that there's still a massive appetite for the series, and that Xbox's first-party lineup is delivering. The fact that it's already breaking records before the official launch is a strong signal that E-Day could be one of the biggest Xbox releases of the year.

Of course, it's still early days. We'll have to wait and see how the numbers hold up once the game fully launches and more players jump in. But if this first 24 hours is any indication, Gears of War: E-Day is off to a phenomenal start.

What do you think? Are you one of the players already diving into E-Day, or are you waiting for the full launch? Let us know in the comments!