Gears of War Games in Order

There are six mainline Gears of War games: Gears of War (2006), Gears of War 2 (2008), Gears of War 3 (2011), the prequel Gears of War: Judgment (2013), Gears of War 4 (2016), and Gears 5 (2019). Gears of War: Reloaded (2025) is a remaster of the 2006 original rather than a seventh game, so it doesn't change that count. The strategy spin-off Gears Tactics (2020) is separate, and a prequel, Gears of War: E-Day, is due October 6, 2026.

For your first playthrough, play in release order: Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, Gears of War: Judgment, Gears of War 4, then Gears 5. That preserves the story reveals and lets you experience the series as it was designed. Use the chronological order, which puts Judgment first, only if you want the strict timeline.

Yes. Gears of War: Judgment is set shortly after Emergence Day, before the events of the original 2006 game, and follows Damon Baird and Augustus Cole. That is why the chronological order places it first, even though it was the fourth game released.

You don't strictly need to, since Gears of War 4 starts a new arc with JD Fenix, but playing the original Marcus Fenix trilogy first adds a lot of emotional weight. Many returning characters and references land harder once you know the Locust War. What you shouldn't do is start at Gears 5, because it picks up directly from Gears of War 4 and hands the lead role to Kait Diaz mid-story.

Judgment is the only one most people can skip. Gears of War 1, 2 and 3 are one continuous story with the same squad, and Gears of War 4 and Gears 5 are a second continuous story, so skipping inside either pair leaves real gaps. Judgment sits outside both: People Can Fly and Epic built it around Baird and Cole about six weeks after Emergence Day, and nothing in Gears of War 4 or Gears 5 depends on it. The part worth going back for is Judgment's unlockable Aftermath campaign, which is actually set during Gears of War 3 rather than before the first game, and only opens once you earn 40 stars in the main campaign. Gears Tactics is optional as well, and the mobile spin-off Gears Pop! shut down in April 2021, so it can't be played at all.

It depends a lot on which game. The 2006 original is the easy one: Gears of War: Reloaded (August 26, 2025) remasters it for Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and Steam, is on Game Pass, and has cross-play and cross-progression. It is also the only Gears game on PlayStation. Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgment were Xbox 360 exclusives that never got an official PC or PlayStation release, so you play them on Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S through backwards compatibility; they are still sold on the Xbox store even though the Xbox 360 store itself closed on July 29, 2024. Gears of War 4 is on Xbox and PC, but on PC only through the Microsoft Store and Xbox app, never Steam. Gears 5 and Gears Tactics are on Steam as well as Xbox and the Microsoft Store. This reflects August 2026 in the US; storefronts and Game Pass line-ups change.

Gears Tactics (2020) is a turn-based strategy spin-off rather than a numbered shooter, made by Splash Damage and set during the early years of the Locust War, well before the first game. It follows Gabe Diaz, the father of Gears 5's Kait, so it is a nice bonus if you have finished Gears 5, but it sits outside both the release and chronological play orders on this page because it's a different style of game.

No. Gears 5 (2019) closed the JD and Kait arc on a cliffhanger, including a forced choice that kills one of two main characters, and The Coalition has never confirmed which outcome is canon. The next game, Gears of War: E-Day, is a prequel, so it doesn't pick that thread up. The Coalition has said it hasn't abandoned the Gears 5 storyline, but as of August 2026 no numbered sequel has been announced or dated. Outside games, a live-action Gears of War film is still in development at Netflix, with David Leitch attached to direct since May 2025 and no release date, and an adult animated series was announced in November 2022.

Gears of War: E-Day, a prequel from The Coalition and People Can Fly set fourteen years before the original game, during the first hours of the Locust invasion. It launches October 6, 2026 on Xbox Series X|S and PC, including Steam, and is on Game Pass day one; Xbox confirmed at its June 2026 showcase that there is no PlayStation version. It isn't listed in the playable orders here yet because it hasn't released, but when it does it will sit ahead of Judgment in the chronological order.