Microsoft officially released Windows 11 26H2 for all users. Windows 11 26H2 brings many new features, along with security improvements and performance enhancements. While Microsoft delivers Windows 11 26H2 to all eligible devices through Windows Update, some features remain dormant until you install the 26H2 Enablement package. This article highlights the new key features and […]
The post Windows 11 26H2 introduces new features appeared first on TheWindowsClub News.
Microsoft will hold a Windows and Surface event on October 7, 2026. We've known about the event for weeks, but Microsoft has now shared details about how to watch it live.
Microsoft posted a YouTube event titled "Something new is coming from Windows | October 7" recently. That means you can click the "Notify me" button to get pinged when the event starts.
The Surface Laptop Ultra and the NVIDIA RTX Spark are expected to be the focus of the event. The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box may also make an appearance.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Surface Chief Pavan Davuluri, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang will all be in attendance.
Microsoft has been tight-lipped about the event. We weren't even sure if it would be live-streamed until recently. The description of the live stream is similarly scarce on details:
"Join us live October 7th at 10:00 am PT for a look at what's next from Windows, Surface, and NVIDIA. See the latest, including RTX Spark and new experiences designed to unlock more possibilities for developers and builders."
Microsoft already announced the Surface Laptop Ultra and discussed RTX Spark, so seeing those on stage would hardly be shocking. Windows 11 just received an update, so there are few surprises about what's shipping to PCs this year. But Microsoft's description talks about "what's next," so the tech giant could tease future updates or discuss changes to how it makes its flagship software or hardware.
Based on our recent poll, Windows Central readers are excited about the Surface Laptop Ultra. So even if the device has already been announced, many people will appreciate details about the laptop.
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Microsoft's official X account was compromised this week in what appears to have been an attempt to promote a cryptocurrency token. The account followed another account and reposted a message asking how many likes would be needed to bring back Clippy.
An emphatic request to bring back Clippy is nothing new on social media, but the post by the since-suspended @clippymsftcto account was not a genuine plea to bring back the iconic assistant.
Normally, a story involving Clippy is lighthearted. Microsoft has playfully referenced the mascot over the years. Sadly, that's not the case here. On top of Microsoft being hacked, which is an issue in itself, the hack was apparently used to promote cryptocurrency.
Microsoft has since deleted its post on the situation, but the company apologized for the post about bringing Clippy back and emphasized that it does not endorse cryptocurrency. The Verge captured a screenshot of the post before it was removed.
The deleted post concludes with a somewhat ironic piece of advice to "rely only on Microsoft's official channels for information regarding our brands, products, securities, and intellectual properties."
Microsoft has deleted its post about the situation, but the tech giant confirmed that its account had been compromised. "We have confirmed unauthorized access to our account on X including posts that did not come from Microsoft," said a Microsoft spokesperson to The Verge. "The account has been secured and the unauthorized posts have been removed, and we are continuing to investigate the circumstances."
Obviously a hack done to promote a cryptocurrency scam is an issue. Microsoft's first priority should be to secure its accounts. Somewhere down the line, the company's leaders should ask if bringing back Clippy is a good idea.
Clippy has an interesting history, but people's views about the assistant have trended positively over the years. The favorable view of Clippy is likely due to a combination of irony and nostalgia, but people often are excited to see official mentions of the paperclip.
Microsoft's public perception has taken a hit, and having a bit of fun with Clippy could lighten the mood. Imagine Microsoft teasing major news about Windows on stage at its event next month and then revealing Clippy Copilot.
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2025 saw the long-awaited return of official NASCAR video games, after years in the wilderness that came after some lacklustre efforts under a previous publisher.
NASCAR's video game is now handled by iRacing, a team that knows how to do things right. It's not a simple rip of the NASCAR aspect of the iRacing sim; it's a tailored, dedicated experience, built to be enjoyable on console and PC, and importantly, with a controller.
NASCAR 26 is the second attempt by iRacing, and as you would certainly hope, it's an improvement. The core remains, but with some new features that make the package that bit better.
The short version is that I wish all console racing games had what makes NASCAR 26 good. It combines the licensing with a healthy dose of NASCAR razzle-dazzle, real-world personalities, and the incredible iRacing tech underneath that gives it its realistic feel.
Even if you're not a particularly big NASCAR fan but you like good racing games, you should definitely give this one a try.
This review was produced using a copy of NASCAR 26 Gold Edition on Xbox Series X provided by iRacing. Nobody from the company had any input in nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.
I am a big NASCAR fan. Watching it live from the UK takes serious commitment, but through hell or high water, I'm there (almost) every weekend in the small hours.
As much fun as I've had in past NASCAR games and on iRacing, it takes a complete package like NASCAR 26 to bring everything together. And it starts with the presentation.
For starters, you've got real-world NASCAR personalities playing a part in the game. When you fire up your first career mode season, you've got Dale Jr. securing you a contract. Former crew chief turned broadcaster Steve Letarte makes plenty of appearances, Jamie McMurray will help you learn the ropes, and TJ Majors is in your ear as the all-important spotter.
That real-world crossover applies to the cars and their drivers and all the circuits you'll visit behind the wheel. I've only one point of comparison I can make myself, that being Charlotte Motor Speedway, but that looks just as spectacular in-game.
NASCAR 26 does such a good job at capturing the atmosphere of the race tracks, as well as how good the cars look (until they inevitably get banged up).
Part of this is the new dynamic lighting, which for night races especially really does make it feel like you're racing at night. Not some kind of fake interpretation of night.
I don't want to dwell too much on the career mode, because for the most part if you played NASCAR 25, it'll feel very familiar.
The trajectory is predictable; you start at the bottom and make your way up to the NASCAR Cup Series in hopes of winning the big prize. As in NASCAR 25, and a change from some older games, the ARCA series is where you begin, not on dirt.
You're responsible for performing well on the track, earning reputation, and getting points that will help your team's workshop keep ticking over. Prize money is important, too, as without it you can't hire better staff. It's straightforward enough. Build a better team, become a better driver, hire better people, and get more lucrative sponsorships.
If you prefer a shorter experience, you can jump into The Chase, a mode that mimics the returning format for the final 10 races of the real-world season. Even running short races and doing a complete career mode (and then enough seasons to unlock the achievements if you're going after that new Mythic unlock) will take a serious investment of time.
Beyond just trust in iRacing to look after the NASCAR brand, the reason I was always most excited for the new games was the tech that would be underneath.
iRacing employs actual race engineers. It laser scans tracks. While NASCAR 26, as with its predecessor, isn't a simple copy and paste of the PC sim, I genuinely think that it has the best physics of any console racer. Compared to, say, Forza Motorsport, it just feels so good.
Cars behave how you'd expect them to behave. They bounce around and wobble at speed. When you leave pit road on cold tires, the rear will just snap around on you if you try and accelerate too quickly. Changes you make to the setup feel meaningful. If you dial in some changes because you're too tight, you'll feel it. You'll also feel it if you go too far in the wrong direction.
Drafting is essential at Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta. As in the real thing, if you lose the draft, you're going nowhere. And on other ovals, you're rewarded for finding your own fastest line. Road courses are a riot, too, because a NASCAR racer is big and heavy, and it doesn't like turning on a dime. I can fly around Watkins Glen in other games, but in NASCAR 26, it suddenly feels challenging.
New for this year, too, is the fact that tracks will change. Through the course of a race, rubber will lay down on the surface, and just as in reality, that affects where you can go and how fast you can go when you're there. It's not just a visual change designed to make it look more realistic. Combined with tire degradation and fuel consumption, it provides a realistic experience, but the track changes still feel very subtle.
The AI drivers are also, mostly, some of the best I've come across in a track racing game. There are moments when it just descends into chaos, and sometimes the back of the pack behaves irregularly as you come to lap them. But when you're up front battling, it feels like you're actually battling.
Beating and banging is fair game; there's no iRacing-esque safety rating to worry about, but I'm amazed at how easy it is to actually race properly against the AI drivers and how much of a challenge it can be to get round them. In the old days of NASCAR Heat, you could pretty much just weave in and out and go from the back to the front in any race. You can't do that here.
I've had so much fun chasing down the AI drivers, having to experiment with different lines, sometimes even just fully sending it, and hoping I get clear. You're able to tweak the AI strength quite substantially, too, so as you get better, you can make the challenge harder.
All of this is perfectly achievable using a controller, too. The best experience will always be with a wheel, but NASCAR 26 doesn't feel overly twitchy or fake when using a controller, and the settings in the game allow you to customize your inputs to get it feeling just right for you.
The spotter also deserves highlighting. It's pretty good, which is useful because if you're driving in cockpit view, it is essential. Calls are clear and informative, and most of all, accurate. If he says you're three wide, you can believe it. If he calls a car inside but you can't see any hint of it, oh, it's there.
I don't think any of us expected anything drastically different, and NASCAR 26 is a definite iteration. But it does make some meaningful improvements that are small in their own right but add up to a better overall package.
But the core experience is still one of the best track racers out there, whether you're a NASCAR fan or not. Cars feel alive and fun to drive, and when the AI works, it produces some of the most fun racing you can get.
I'd like to see more non-career mode content, and honestly, I'd like to see future games drop earlier in a season. We're a handful of races out from the 2026 NASCAR season ending, having spent most of it on last year's game with last year's cars.
Open-world racers like Forza Horizon 6 get most of the attention these days, but iRacing continues to prove that when done right, there's still room for good track action. NASCAR 26 is one of the best out there right now, and it certainly bodes well for next year's Indycar game.
NASCAR 26 launched on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC via Steam on September 18, 2026.
"Battle your way through all four NASCAR National Series in Career, Quick Race, Championship, Multiplayer, or our all-new mode featuring The Chase! And, with all the laser-scanned assets of iRacing, the level of authenticity has never been higher with dynamic track, an all-new peak performance training mode, and enhanced driving physics across every chassis."
One of my favorite things about the Xbox ecosystem has historically also been one of its most frustrating. Why? Primarily due to a "lack" of adoption.
Xbox Play Anywhere is by far and away my favorite thing about being an Xbox owner. As a heavy (figuratively and literally) Xbox gamer with hundreds upon hundreds of owned games, I'm always excited to see when one of my games supports Xbox Play Anywhere — a feature that allows me to take my game to Xbox Cloud Gaming or Windows PCs or gaming handhelds on the same license, with the same save file.
DEAL: Get Surfshark VPN 86% OFF with Windows Central 🦈
However, in years past, adoption was pretty anemic. Xbox's first-party titles (mostly) came to the service, but third-party games generally turned their nose up at it. What's worse, the idea of older games getting support was almost unheard of. That changed in a big way in 2026.
I will remember 2026 as the year Xbox Play Anywhere really saw a watershed moment.
Previously, it felt like AAA developers simply didn't care or want to work with Xbox Play Anywhere. I wrote an opinion piece complaining about Xbox Play Anywhere adoption back in January, but almost a year later, things have done an almost total 180.
Before, it felt like to expect Xbox Play Anywhere, Microsoft had to drop an Xbox Game Pass deal on the game in order to acquire the rights and convince the developers to play nice. But this year, we've seen a steady cadence of games both large and small hitting Xbox Play Anywhere without any form of Game Pass integration.
Yes, many AAA games still aren't arriving as part of Xbox Play Anywhere (notably ones from the "bigger" publishers like EA and Ubisoft), but it seems even they are coming around to the idea. A few weeks ago, Ubisoft began offering some of its games on Xbox PC "for free" if you own the Xbox console version, making them Xbox Play Anywhere in all but name. Now if we could just get Star Wars Zero Company too ... if you're listening, EA.
Other publishers have been sporadic. Capcom brought Onimusha: Way of the Sword to Xbox Play Anywhere, but not Resident Evil 9 or Pragmata, for example. Others have been fully on board, with Square-Enix pledging virtually every new release, including re-releases like the upcoming Kingdom Hearts remasters and Final Fantasy Resonance.
Indeed, one of the bigger issues with Xbox Play Anywhere revolves around gaps in the overall content line-up. It reminded me a bit of the Windows Phone app gap ... wherein developers didn't see enough users to justify the port, and users didn't see enough content to justify using the store. But somehow, Xbox seems to have overcome this issue with Xbox Play Anywhere.
Witcher 3 recently got retroactively updated with Xbox Play Anywhere support, for example. Today, Metro 2033 and Last Light were announced with HD refreshes, complete with Xbox Play Anywhere support. Baldur's Gate 3 too, also grabbed Xbox Play Anywhere support, with Larian remarking that it's just "a cool part of the ecosystem." Even some of the more obscure games like Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon, a game I was secretly hoping would grab Xbox Play Anywhere, just randomly got certified today. I also had no idea other viral indie hits like TCG Card Shop Simulator were Xbox Play Anywhere until I checked what was available today.
What's going on here?!
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon (2025) now prodives both Xbox & PC versions in one purchase (no #XboxPlayAnywhere tag) https://t.co/bTqoq3MOS2 pic.twitter.com/jBHJRMU7SnOctober 1, 2026
There's been a huge, generalized sprint of solid Xbox Play Anywhere support recently. Blood of Dawnwalker, Control Resonant, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, Aliens Fireteam Elite 2, Beast of Reincarnation, Dispatch, 007: First Light, Subnautica 2, Vampire Crawlers, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Replaced, Monster Hunter Stories 3, Deep Dish Dungeon, Clive Barker's Hellraiser Revival, Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons, and many more — have all hit the service in recent months, or will in the near future.
There are tons more as well, on top of first-party titles which are all but guaranteed to hit Xbox Play Anywhere by default. Crucially, all of the games play incredibly well natively on Xbox Ally X, optimized for handhelds out of the box in most cases.
Microsoft hasn't been shy about its intentions to improve the Xbox back-end systems to facilitate these kinds of features. But I'm curious what is driving this increased adoption of late ... could it be the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X effect? Is it simply a no-brainer if you're also moving copies via Xbox Cloud Gaming? Is the Xbox PC store seeing more rapid adoption than people think?
Whatever the cause is, as an Xbox Ally X gamer, I'm loving it.
Now if you don't mind, I'm going to rock up with some more Deep Dish Dungeon for a bit while the WoW: Forever servers are in maintenance ...
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Gears of War: E-Day has finally launched on Xbox Series X|S and PC via early access for players who pre-ordered the Premium Edition.
While the rest of the world waits for its public release on October 6, 2026, players can look up whether Gears of War: E-Day is up their alley by checking the mountain of critic reviews now available online.
Sure enough, critics are absolutely adoring this epic prequel to the iconic Gears of War series, as it's scoring high ratings of 88 on Metacritic and 87 on OpenCritic.
Here's what some of the top reviews had to say about this new entry in Xbox's flagship shooter franchise.
Note that all these reviews only cover the single-player campaign, as the multiplayer modes were unavailable to test during the review period.
Overall, it seems the general sentiment around Gears of War: E-Day is that it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, but returns to the series' roots with a solid, harrowing war story while refining the core gameplay loop that made Gears of War the household name it is today to great effect.
However, our own Jez Corden was more critical in his review-in-progress article on Gears of War: E-Day. While Jez praised the game's gorgeous visuals, stunning performance, and solid gunplay, he felt like let down by the game's poorly designed open-world-lite elements that break the game's pacing and uninteresting, damage-spongy boss fights.
The real make-or-break point for Gears of War: E-Day, to me, will be its PvP Versus Modes and its much-anticipated PvE Horde Siege mode, where you will be pitted against dozens of Locust enemies and boss monsters at once with 12 players.
If The Coalition can nail the gameplay of its multiplayer modes and its post-launch content, people will be sticking around for Gears of War: E-Day long after they beat the campaign. I know I'll be playing Gears of War: E-Day's Horde Siege mode over Grand Theft Auto 6 any day.
Gears of War: E-Day (Xbox): $69.00
Relive the tragic day that started the long, grueling war between the COGs and the Locust horde in the highly anticipated prequel of the Gears of War franchise, Gears of War: E-Day.
• Xbox Store
• SteamView Deal
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Last month, Windows Central exclusively covered a Signal65 report that showed Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme outperforming Intel and AMD in a premium laptop showdown.
Now, a new follow-up study by Signal65 just published suggests the more important story may involve the version most people are likely to buy (Qualcomm’s Extreme chip is basically in one laptop, albeit an awesome one).
The independent testing firm's latest research examined the standard 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-88-100 in Lenovo's Slim 7x, comparing it against Intel's Core Ultra X7 358H inside Dell's banger XPS 14 and AMD's Ryzen AI 7 445 in Lenovo's Yoga 7a 14.
This time, the focus shifted from large 16-inch flagship laptops to the increasingly important premium 14-inch category, where thermal constraints, battery life, and efficiency matter just as much as peak performance.
The most consistent finding in the data is that the Snapdragon system does not need to be set to a higher power profile to reach its top-tier performance, while the x86 systems do.
Signal65 Report
Luckily for Qualcomm, which commissioned the study, the results largely mirror the earlier Extreme-chip study. Qualcomm's platform led in CPU performance, AI workloads, productivity, and most battery-focused tests while also coming in significantly below the price of the Intel system evaluated.
However, that does not mean Qualcomm won everything. Intel continues to hold meaningful advantages in graphics performance (exemplified to perfection in MSI’s latest handheld gaming PC), and the XPS 14 remains one of the most premium Windows laptops available today. Still, the latest findings strengthen the argument that Snapdragon's lead is no longer limited to a halo product, nor a quirk of its Extreme chip.
Let's dive into the numbers, and then break down what it really means, as there is some nuance here.
In Geekbench 7, the Snapdragon-powered Lenovo Slim 7x posted a multi-core score of 24,016, compared to 18,360 for the Intel-powered XPS 14. Single-core performance also favored Qualcomm, with a score of 3,237 against Intel's 2,602.
According to Signal65, that translates into leads of 31% and 24%, respectively, favoring Qualcomm.
Those numbers are especially notable because they are not solely the result of having more CPU cores. While Qualcomm's 18-core design certainly helps in heavily threaded workloads, the single-core advantage points to meaningful architectural gains from the second-generation Oryon design as well.
The company also maintained substantial leads in Cinebench 2026 rendering tests and across Microsoft's Office applications as measured by UL Procyon. In the productivity benchmark, Snapdragon led Intel by 10% in Best Performance mode and retained a smaller advantage in the default Balanced profile.
For buyers who spend most of their day in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Edge, and Teams, those productivity-oriented results may matter more than synthetic benchmark scores.
AI remains one of Qualcomm's strongest categories.
In UL Procyon AI Computer Vision, the Snapdragon system scored 4,360 compared to Intel's 2,302. Even in the newer AI CV 2.0 WinML benchmark, which routes through Microsoft's Windows ML framework rather than a vendor-specific path, Qualcomm maintained a lead of roughly 31% over Intel.
That distinction is important because it better reflects the way many Windows AI experiences are expected to work going forward. Basically, a benchmark that favors proprietary software optimizations is useful, but a benchmark that preserves the advantage through a common Windows layer is arguably more relevant.
One of the headline findings from the earlier Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme study was that Qualcomm gave up remarkably little performance when running unplugged. Qualcomm has been touting this advantage since the first gen of Snapdragon X.
The trend continues here.
Across six benchmarks, the Snapdragon system retained an average of 97% of its plugged-in Balanced-mode performance. Intel retained 95%, while the AMD system retained 74%. According to Signal65, the Snapdragon-powered laptop led every CPU, productivity, and AI benchmark tested on battery.
Critically, we must remember that OEMs, especially on Intel and AMD systems, have leverage on AC/DC performance choices, meaning a company like Lenovo could have its AMD system perform worse on battery ... in order to get better battery life. Companies do this to find what they think is a balance for their intended customer, even if the explanation is opaque.
I wrote about this AMD-throttling issue back in 2021, because I found it frustrating, deceptive, and disappointing. Not much has changed in 2026, apparently.
The battery life data was also favorable for Qualcomm, particularly because the three laptops used nearly identical battery capacities.
The Slim 7x (Qualcomm) lasted 16.1 hours in local video playback compared to 14.4 hours for the XPS 14 (Intel). In a Chrome browsing rundown, the Snapdragon laptop reached 11.2 hours versus 8.6 hours for Intel's machine.
There was one significant exception. Intel won the sustained Procyon Office battery test, posting 17.4 hours compared to Qualcomm's 14.3 hours. Signal65 argues that Snapdragon completed more work during that test, making the outcome more nuanced than a simple battery-life loss, but the result remains one of Intel's clearest victories in the report.
This is where I think the conversation becomes more interesting than benchmark charts.
The Snapdragon machine tested was a $1,999 Lenovo Slim 7x. The Intel competitor was a $2,749 Dell XPS 14. That $750 difference looms over nearly every chart in the report.
At the same time, it is difficult to discuss the XPS 14 purely as a processor comparison.
Dell's laptop is widely regarded as one of the most premium Windows notebooks on the market, with exceptional build quality, materials, industrial design, and one of the best displays available in the category. The Signal65 report acknowledges that these are comparisons of complete retail systems rather than isolated silicon measurements.
That matters because buyers are not choosing between just processors. They are choosing between laptops, aka the full package.
The display difference is particularly worth mentioning. Signal65 did not evaluate screen quality, but Dell's OLED-equipped XPS 14 has generally been considered one of the standout displays in the Windows ecosystem. Some buyers may reasonably decide that premium construction, display quality, and graphics performance justify paying more.
Others may look at a $750 premium and conclude that Intel's advantages are simply not large enough, which is fair, too. After all, we reviewed the Yoga Slim 7x back in May and gave it very high marks.
It's also worth pointing out that Dell's display is a VRR 120Hz at 2880 x 1800, while the Slim 7x is just 1920 x 1200 at 60Hz (both are OLED). Anyone worth their salt in comparing laptops and battery life knows the display is, by far, the number one draw on power, so while I do believe Qualcomm's chip here is better, a pinch of salt is needed for battery life results.
The strongest argument for Intel remains graphics, something the company has been working very hard at in recent years.
In 3DMark Steel Nomad Light, Intel's Arc B390 outperformed Qualcomm's Adreno X2-90 GPU by roughly 23% in both DirectX 12 and Vulkan testing. That's the same GPU powering the beastly MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ gaming handheld, which crushes AMD in the same space.
The practical consequence is that the Intel system's wins require the user to be plugged in and to have selected the right mode, while the Snapdragon system's wins do not.
Signal65 Report
For users who prioritize integrated graphics performance, gaming, or creative workloads that benefit from stronger GPU hardware, Intel still has a compelling case.
That advantage becomes harder to defend when price enters the discussion, which is why Signal65 ultimately concludes that Snapdragon delivers better performance per dollar across the tested systems. According to the study, Qualcomm's laptop delivered roughly 2.15 times Intel's value when normalized across selected CPU, rendering, and AI benchmarks.
As with the previous report, this study was commissioned by Qualcomm, a fact readers should keep in mind. Signal65 remains an independent testing organization, but commissioned research naturally benefits from additional scrutiny.
Even with that caveat, the broader pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. I also trust the results.
The earlier Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme report established that Qualcomm's flagship laptop chip could outperform competing Intel and AMD systems. This latest study suggests those advantages extend well beyond the top, hard-to-find SKU.
That may be the more consequential finding.
Flagship products are important for headlines, but the laptops that shape a market tend to be the mainstream premium systems people actually purchase. If Qualcomm can deliver strong CPU performance, class-leading AI results, competitive battery life, and lower pricing with a standard 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite, the company has moved beyond proving a point and started building a sustainable competitive position in the Windows laptop market.
From my experience with both systems, I prefer Qualcomm since they usually run cooler and quieter, and my overall Windows 11 experience feels faster and smoother. That said, I have to admit Intel’s Core Ultra 3 series has really closed the gap — they’re genuinely impressive chips.
If anything, the bigger subtext with this story is just how far AMD has fallen out of this space. We recently covered how no modern Surface PCs opt for AMD, and it's not because of "not enough product" as Microsoft claims. It's because Microsoft knows they're not as good as what Intel and Qualcomm offer, full stop.
The bigger takeaway from these results is not that Qualcomm won another benchmark comparison. It's that Qualcomm appears to have successfully scaled its advantages beyond a halo product. Intel now faces a more difficult reality: competing not only against Snapdragon's fastest chip, but against the one that is likely to ship in far more laptops.
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Today's the day: Gears of War: E-Day, the most anticipated Xbox exclusive in years, has launched in early access for players who pre-ordered the Premium Edition of the game. Earlier, Jez Corden called it "gorgeous but undeniably messy" in our review-in-progress, looking forward to future content additions.
Still, to celebrate this momentous occasion, Gears of War: E-Day's developers, The Coalition, have released an extensive blog post detailing their plans for updating the game's multiplayer content, balance changes, and more.
Here's what you can expect from Gears of War: E-Day's post-launch updates.
Check out Season 1 details, updates from the Beta and what's coming next.Read More: https://t.co/vaBCRztAQs pic.twitter.com/95eGqiIalXSeptember 30, 2026
First off, The Coalition states that Season 1 of Gears of War: E-Day's multiplayer content, titled Season 1: Emergence, will be running from today all the way up to December 1, 2026.
Season 1 will include all the game's launch maps, games, cosmetics, and three limited-time events called 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, limited-time rewards.
Additionally, Season 1 will include:
Season 2: Legacy will begin at a later date after Season 1 and will feature content themed around the Gears of War franchise's 20th anniversary. The Coalition has also prepared a birthday gift for players to open on November 7, the day when the original Gears of War launched two decades ago.
Additionally, The Coalition has announced that Season 2 will include a Dead Serious Achievement. Any players who obtain it will be rewarded with exclusive cosmetics like a Medal, a Player Title, a Banner, an Emblem, an Icon, and a Legendary Character skin.
Lastly, Gears of War: E-Day has been confirmed to receive at least five post-launch seasons. The names of future seasons after Season 2 are:
Moving on from seasonal content, The Coalition then lays out its plan for updating Gears of War: E-Day's gameplay based on feedback from the multiplayer betas.
Their first move is to change the Gnasher, Gears of War's iconic shotgun that is regarded as one of the best weapons to use in PvP and PvE content throughout the whole franchise.
The developers noticed that during Gears 2 to 5, firing the Gnasher from the hip has often resulted in some shots missing when they clearly should've hit the target. So, The Coalition has decided to finally fix that by introducing a new hybrid muzzle and camera-oriented shooting mechanic.
This means that when you fire the Gnasher, the game will check both the camera and muzzle shots and apply whichever angle is better suited for the shot, which should (hopefully) result in more accurate hits.
Next up, The Coalition states that iconic gameplay features from past Gears of War titles, like Meat Shields, Chainsaw Duels, select fan-favorite weapons, Private Lobbies, and Leaderboards, are being considered to be added to Gears of War: E-Day in post-launch updates or the next game.
Right now, the developers are focusing on making sure Gears of War: E-Day has the most stable launch experience possible.
Finally, The Coalition has laid out a series of patch notes for Gears of War: E-Day's early access launch, which include bug fixes, balance adjustments, Quality-of-life improvements, and more:
Click here to expand the full list ↴
If you're a fan of Gears of War or third-person shooters, then you won't want to miss out on Gears of War: E-Day when it leaves early access and launches for the general public on October 6, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S and PC.
It's turning out to be one of the best games in the series just from the campaign alone, and judging from these long-term plans for its exciting multiplayer modes, Gears of War: E-Day is going to satiate your craving for video game violence for a long time.
Before heading off to buy a copy, I'd recommend upgrading your Xbox Series X's storage to fit Gears of War: E-Day, as the base game's 115GB install requirement is going to take a huge chunk out of it long before its post-launch updates arrive.
Gears of War: E-Day (Xbox): $69.00
Relive the tragic day that started the long, grueling war between the COGs and the Locust horde in the highly anticipated prequel of the Gears of War franchise, Gears of War: E-Day.
• Xbox Store
• SteamView Deal
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.
As I write this, I just wrapped up my run-through of Gears of War: E-Day, start to finish. Although, I have yet to experience the full actual game.
For the review build, Gears of War: E-Day's new siege mode is disabled, as is versus multiplayer. It felt odd to me to score a game I haven't fully played yet; as such, this will be a review-in-progress pending the launch state of versus and siege mode, which I presume goes live with the game itself on October 6, 2026.
Gears of War: E-Day is something of an important game for Xbox. It carries the flag for Microsoft's return to exclusive Xbox Series X|S games, and likely has some oversized pressure upon it to deliver. We're not here to review that aspect of the product, though — only what is here sitting in front of me.
And my feelings are a bit mixed.
Gears of War: E-Day has some of the most stunning visuals I've ever seen committed to the medium, with absolutely immaculate lighting treatment, immense and meticulous city detailing, and gorgeous character work. The gunplay is also fantastic, smoothing off some of the series' rough edges with boosted mobility, without sacrificing the Gears feel.
But the overall gameplay structure does the overall game a pretty sizeable disservice in my view, preventing it from reaching its full potential.
Gears of War: E-Day takes place over a decade before Gears of War 1, offering us a front-row seat to the brutal and genocidal opening to the Locust's attack on humanity.
The city of Kalona serves as ground zero for that invasion. Kalona is known as a city of science and technological progress, and was instrumental in developing the COG's weapons tech and industrial war economy during the civil war against the UIR. E-Day takes place six weeks after the UIR surrenders, and Dominic Santiago and Marcus Fenix are picking up the pieces and mourning lost friends and family.
The character work on offer in E-Day is absolutely top-shelf. The trauma of loss and the shock of the Locust invasion comes through incredibly well in every single aspect of the game's delivery. The cityscape is immaculately detailed, with interiors fully rendered with a lived-in feel, complemented by some of the best lighting I've ever seen in a video game. Well and truly, Gears of War: E-Day is at the absolute apex of Unreal Engine technological prowess, and the game deserves awards on that basis alone, most likely.
Rendering the city in so much detail really helps serve the story. Gears of War's more recent games take place in a ruined world, where the Locust have effectively already won and decimated humanity and most of its cities. For E-Day, The Coalition had to show a city that was still thriving and populated, and the horrors therein.
From the very first cutscene, The Coalition pulls no punches: this is a horror story, a war story, and a tale of survival and desperation. The COG army is decimated and blindsided, besieged by an unknown threat that they immediately underestimate as monsters without a plan, only to discover later just how smart and organized the Locust actually are.
Civilian NPCs litter the city, sometimes fleeing, sometimes in dismembered puddles on the ground. The reactions from the characters and their development throughout the game really help to elevate that sense of loss and fear — they're not the battle-hardened survivors of the original Gears trilogy. They're young, war-weary from fighting the UIR, and in some cases wholly traumatized already.
I don't want to give too much away about the story, but this very much felt like the first game in a new planned trilogy ... there were aspects of the delivery that suffered as a result. Some plot threads felt designed to be resolved in future games (or DLC?), leaving me wanting somewhat. But the fact that I am eager to learn more about this Emergence Day story arc is probably a plus. It would be far worse if I didn't care, and I find myself caring a lot about the new characters, their struggles, their past lives, and what will ultimately end up happening to them ... given that some clearly aren't present in future installments.
Gears of War: E-Day's setting, visuals, and story delivery represent its best aspects. The game's performance on Xbox Series X is top-tier, with slowdown only occurring during some particularly heavy sequences towards the end. I didn't experience a single crash, and it's great to see a modern game offer split-screen co-op in the modern age as an option.
The new characters are interesting and engaging, and finding out new layers of existing characters is also rewarding as a long-time fan. I think Gears of War: E-Day could've benefitted from leaning more into civilian-oriented side stories potentially ... but as I'm going to explain in the gameplay section, Gears of War: E-Day is let down a fair bit by its gameplay structure all up.
Let's get the good stuff out of the way first: this is still very much Gears of War. Everything you've loved previously about Gears is still here, and in most cases, elevated to the 11th degree.
E-Day boosts the player character's mobility by a huge amount. Sprint is now more instantaneous and on the left stick like a standard modern shooter. Cover is far more dynamic than it was previously, with the ability to take cover in lower spaces than before, making environments feel more varied and natural. You can now also climb and vault, allowing The Coalition to build on the game's verticality. Given that Kalona is a city-state with large buildings and urban environments, having these features serves the game incredibly well.
The gunplay is also very polished. Chainsaw-ing dudes in half is more rewarding than ever, with almost embarrassingly satisfying sound treatment and chunky gore physics. Watching a severed torso flip onto the floor never gets old.
There's a variety of new weapons which are also instant classics. The Locust have been scavenging the battlefields of the Pendulum wars, adapting old UIR guns with horrifyingly inhumane enhancements. As such, that satisfying M1 Garand "ping" returns from the UIR Markza, repurposed into the axe-hilted Locust Breechshot rifle, for example.
The gunplay lets itself down a bit when it comes to fighting some of the game's bigger enemies, though. Drones, wretches, and some of the earlier enemies are by far the most satisfying to fight, reacting to your bullets and even having destructible armor that makes combat feel more dynamic and modern. I'm not sure why The Coalition didn't extend this gameplay style to some of its bigger enemies, which is where I would argue it'd be far more crucial.
Indeed, in Act 1, Gears of War: E-Day starts so strongly, and I was sitting there wondering if this was going to end up being the best game Xbox ever shipped, but over time, that feeling began to unravel.
Reavers, Brumaks, and other larger enemies barely react at all to gunfire, making them feel like robots or bullet sponges — something Gears 4 was heavily criticized for. You end up just watching the enemy's health bar in some cases for at least some semblance of reactivity, instead of the visuals The Coalition's art team painstakingly worked towards. Towards the end of the game, these types of enemies become more common too, robbing the game of some of its dynamism.
Another irritating aspect of Gears of War: E-Day pertains to its open-but-not-actually-open world design, which to me smacks of rushed or changing game design priorities throughout development.
Kalona is a fully realized 3D city, with a huge variety of urban exterior and interior locations. It's a great canvas that The Coalition can build upon when designing future content, potentially both for Siege and Versus mode. The problem is, it doesn't lend itself particularly well to the campaign mode.
Gears of War: E-Day starts incredibly strongly, with a linear cinematic segment that really sets the tone for the game. Then, it opens up into this odd semi-open world structure that seemed interesting in previews, but in practice, it doesn't really reach further than the glimpses we got over the summer.
There's a map that offers the illusion of large explorable spaces, but in practice, all the segments are very linear. Even the side objectives take place in a structured way, undermining the need or desire to really explore. It felt like The Coalition tried to shoehorn in more reasons to explore by spreading weapon mods and collectibles around, but I just found this aspect of the game to be irritating and pace-breaking.
There's dozens upon dozens of weapon mods to find in the field, but half the time it'll be for weapons you don't really want to use. The game pings you with an annoying pop-up every few seconds saying "hardcase nearby," which just served as a distraction given that the reward was mostly just junk items. Even the collectibles were annoying to find, given that you had to jump through several menus then go manually searching for the item you just found from a huge list. There were more mods to find than there was gameplay canvas upon which to place them ... E-Day really would've benefitted from some kind of vendor system instead here, allowing you to buy mods at your leisure, rather than feeling forced into boring hide-and-seek gameplay every 3 minutes.
These might seem like minor gripes, but given that there's not much else "new" here on offer across the general Gears formula, they stand out a bit like a sore thumb.
It doesn't help that, as a result of the game's structure, you end up revisiting the same locations multiple times as part of the story, which felt anticlimactic and choring, particularly towards the end of the game.
The campaign does have some incredibly epic, cinematic, and deeply emotional moments — don't get me wrong. There are some fantastic sequences spread throughout the game, showcasing Emergence in all of its reptilian, subterranean horror. I just wish they'd doubled up on these moments instead of trying this odd "open" world experiment, which seems ill-conceived and poorly executed, with features that detract rather than elevate the overall experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed Gears of War: E-Day overall, and am already enjoying my second playthrough on a higher difficulty, but I would be lying if I said the game didn't have large issues — particularly given how easily avoided many of them could've been.
Kalona is an immaculate canvas ripe for telling epic stories. The new, horror-laden tone is absolutely the right direction for Gears of War: E-Day. The existential dread oozes throughout every character delivery, and the city design is among the best the medium has ever seen.
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The gameplay structure placed on top of it becomes the problem, that could've used a lot more iteration and forethought. It felt a bit like E-Day was originally intended to be some form of open-world, but at some point, they retreated, leaving it feeling disjointed. The "open world" exploration aspects are unrewarding and more often than not simply frustrating, and a lot more work could've gone into making boss-level enemies more dynamic and interesting to fight.
If I were to score the game based on the campaign alone, I'd probably give it an 8/10 overall — it's still incredibly fun, and the downsides are frustrating but not game-breaking. In any case, we haven't experienced the full package Gears of War: E-Day represents. We still have Siege and Versus to talk about, and it remains to be seen how fun or even functional those will be at launch. Stay tuned.
Gears of War: E-Day launches October 6, 2026, exclusively on Xbox Series X|S on console with Xbox Play Anywhere for PC, it's also coming to Steam and Xbox Game Pass.
Gears of War: E-Day is a fantastic co-op shooter that brings the franchise closer to pure horror than ever before. Some campaign design decisions frustrate the experience and prevent it from hitting its full potential, but the overall package is well worth your time.
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September 29, 2026, saw the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered; to say it was met with a glowing reception would be an understatement.
It broke its lifetime concurrent Steam record with over 119,000 people playing at launch, and critics have been loving the changes the Remastered Edition made to the original game (including our own Jennifer Young giving it a perfect review score of 5/5 stars).
Unfortunately, while everyone was too excited to replay the classic RPG, trouble was brewing for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, especially on PC.
Remastered is unfortunately released with some game breaking bugs.from r/Witcher3
Players have started noticing massive technical problems, including game-breaking glitches, DLSS not functioning with Xbox Play Anywhere on PC, not being able to save their game progress, and more.
CD Projekt Red has been made aware of this situation and has just rolled out a quick hotfix for the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC versions of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered to address some of these issues.
📜 Witchers!We've just released an update for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the PC Xbox Play Anywhere version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered. You can see what's changed below:- Fixed an issue where DLSS was unavailable in the Xbox Play Anywhere version of… pic.twitter.com/xCNbiStzeMOctober 1, 2026
According to CD Projekt Red, this hotfix titled 'Patch 5.00b' has made the following changes:
Additionally, CD Projekt Red is planning to add a hotfix to address the issue that's preventing people from saving their game files. If you have encountered any glitches or technical issues while playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, you can submit them to CD Projekt Red's Technical Support portal, and they'll work to fix them.
Now, I like CD Projekt Red's games, but there's one uncomfortable fact I've come to accept about them: they've repeatedly been riddled with game-breaking bugs and issues at launch.
Cyberpunk 2077's infamous 2020 launch is the one most people remember, but I recall when I first tried The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt back in the 2010s on the Xbox One and got frustrated with non-stop crashes and glitches that wouldn't be addressed until the Hearts of Stone expansion came out.
Thankfully, CD Projekt Red isn't sitting idly by to fix the issues in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, so we won't have to wait long before this exceptional remaster is playable at its very best, before the Songs of the Past expansion releases in 2027.
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The death of 343 Industries and Halo Studios, whether you view it as the right call or not, has brought an enormous amount of drama with it. We aren't going to dive into that mess today. Instead, I want to highlight something that has been somewhat buried in the noise: a community-driven effort has ported the original Halo: Combat Evolved to a host of devices.
We are talking about your web browser, Android, Linux, and yes, even the PS4 and PS5. All of these ports support full multiplayer and campaign modes. For the PlayStation crowd, you will of course need a jailbroken device, which has become a relatively straightforward process.
Beyond the basic ports, we are seeing other Halo mods emerge, a new Halo 3 port on PC, and new modes for Halo: CE that support up to 128 players. Is this effectively making Halo x Battlefield a reality? Maybe.
Of course, these projects are largely driven by AI-powered tools, or at least most are anyway. With Claude recently releasing Opus 5.5, the barrier to entry for this kind of work has dropped significantly, so make of that what you will.
Regarding Halo, Combat Evolved was also recently decompiled, again thanks to AI, which is also likely why we're seeing a surge in mods for the game.
The scope is genuinely wild. We even have Halo: CE running on a Nintendo 3DS, and unrelated to Halo, there's even a project showcasing Minecraft inside Elden Ring. Yes, that exists, and it is pretty crazy to see.
Personally, I am somewhat indifferent about these things. I find it rather cool that the community is pushing the boundaries of what is possible, but I do worry about the long-term implications of AI being able to transform games to this extent. It raises some interesting questions about what it might mean for multiplayer titles in the future, especially if AI can start reverse engineering games.
With all that said, do let me know your thoughts in the comments. Whether you agree with where I sit on this matter or disagree, both opinions are welcome!
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The long awaited Xbox x IKEA YXSTABY collection has officially hit stores today, so you can either head to your local branch or order the pieces online.
It's part of Xbox's 25th Anniversary celebrations this year (who knew they could do marketing) and is actually an impressive bunch of furniture and accessories combining Scandanavian minimilism and some more of the subtle Xbox branding that would work in most living rooms. I like that the collection doesn't look like it belongs in a teenagers bedroom like many other gaming adjecent furniture collections.
Here's the list of everything you can get and prices.
You can grab everything on the US Site later today, and for my UK friends, the collection is available right now.
Seating & Furniture
Desk Setup & Accessories
For those eyeing the YXSTABY Gaming Lounge Chair, I got to sit in it at Gamescom, and it's ridiculously comfortable despite its minimal look. One in the Xbox business booth saved my legs many a time!
It's an upgraded version of an IKEA chair I've owned before, but Xbox has improved this new iteration by adding handy built-in pockets perfect for stashing your controller or handheld.
The controller display boxes are probably my second favorite thing in the collection and I'm considering a couple for above my desk area to display those controllers that are just too pretty for me to actually use.
Everything is live on IKEA's site and in physical stores now. Are you planning to grab any of the thumbstick stools or storage pieces for your gaming corner?
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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, the long-awaited sequel to Warhammer 40,000's beloved real-time strategy series, has released a new trailer to whet players' appetites before its December 3, 2026 release on PC.
This cinematic showcases an epic battle between two playable factions of the game: the superhuman Space Marines and the mechanical, alien horrors known as Necrons.
Space Marines come in a variety of different armies called Chapters, and the one you play as in this game is the Blood Ravens, the mascots of the Dawn of War series.
In this trailer, the Blood Ravens, despite being genetically engineered super soldiers, are getting annihilated by the Necrons' never-ending armies of undying robot monsters and advanced technology.
Then, when all hope seemed lost, the Blood Ravens get rescued by the Dark Angels, an iconic Space Marine chapter from the tabletop version of Warhammer 40,000, who are heavily themed after medieval knights.
The Dark Angels will be a playable sub-faction of the Space Marine with their unique units, strategies, and heroes separate from the Blood Ravens, including the video game debut of Lion El'Jonson, the Primarch of the Dark Angels.
As a longtime fan of Warhammer, I have a special place in my heart for the Blood Ravens Chapter, as they were the first Space Marines I ever met when I played the original Dawn of War back in the early 2000s, so I can't wait to play as them again.
As for the Dark Angels, I will admit I'm not quite as familiar with these guys other than their knightly aesthetics, their obsession with interrogations and paranoia, and being playable in 2016's Space Hulk: Deathwing game.
So it will be interesting getting to know them as I play through the story campaign and see how they get along with the Blood Ravens.
But what about you? Are you excited to play as the Space Marines in Dawn of War IV, or are you planning to play one of the factions like the Orks, Necrons, or Adeptus Mechanicus?
If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments section, poll, or on our Reddit page.
Take control of the Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, or Adeptus Mechanicus factions and wage a bloody war for domination in epic single-player campaigns or chaotic multiplayer modes in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV.View Deal
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For many years, people have wondered what it would be like if World of Warcraft, one of the most iconic MMORPGs in history, became playable on both PC and home consoles, like its biggest rival, Final Fantasy XIV.
Recently, those pipe dreams may have the potential to come true if the latest rumors surrounding the upcoming World of Warcraft: Forever turn out to be true.
World of Warcraft: Forever was classified for Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PlayStation in Brazil via the Ministry of Justicefrom r/wowforever
On September 29, 2026, Reddit user 'Rychillie' discovered that on the website for Brazil's Ministry of Justice, it stated that World of Warcraft: Forever was being classified for use on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Mac.
However, another Redditor 'birizinho' in the comments did a quick check on the gov.br listing and discovered that these console classifications had been quickly taken down within a few hours.
Now, as with any rumor, this should be taken with a huge grain of salt. This is especially apparent considering this console classification list for World of Warcraft: Forever has the PlayStation 3 on it, a console that Sony is trying to kill off by closing down the PS3/PSVita PSN store and discontinuing future physical PlayStation games.
Plus, since World of Warcraft: Forever has only been confirmed for PC, it is 99% likely this was just a typing mistake on the Brazilian Ministry of Justice website's part.
However, there is a very unlikely chance that a console port of World of Warcraft: Forever could become real sometime in the far distant future, as this game features full Xbox controller support.
Personally, even if any version of World of Warcraft came to consoles, I'd stick with playing it on PC with my dedicated MMO mouse and keyboard combo, as that control scheme feels the most natural way for me to play MMORPGs.
I can't imagine how cumbersome it would be to target players and mobs during hardcore raid dungeons and boss fights, especially for healer classes.
But then again, if players are able to clear the hardest Raid content in Final Fantasy XIV (that being Ultimate Raids) using controllers, then I'm guessing the same could be possible for World of Warcraft players using controllers, provided they get enough practice and set up the right keybinds and macros.
Either way, we'll have to wait to see what the future holds after World of Warcraft: Forever releases on November 4, 2026, and if it can survive releasing in the same month as Grand Theft Auto 6.
World of Warcraft: Forever Collection: $79.99
Relive the early days of World of Warcraft, reimagined with improved graphics, new class+race combos, thousands of new quests, and the new Skyborne race in World of Warcraft: Forever.
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