Seven years after Gears 5, it’s back: Gears of War: E-Day leads a jam-packed release week on Steam.
October takes no prisoners. This week is packed with shooters, an MMO launch, plenty of horror for the spooky season, puzzles for tinkerers, and fresh content for building game fans.
If you’ve already blown your budget during the Steam Autumn Sale, you’ll have to be brave now. Thursday alone is so packed that the rest of the week pales in comparison. As we do every Monday, we’ve rounded up all the major releases for you.
Table of Contents
The Highlight of the Week: Gears of War: E-Day
Genre: Third-person shooter – Developer: The Coalition – Release: October 6, 2026 (Steam)
Seven years after Gears 5, one of the most iconic shooter series of the Xbox era returns—with a look back at the past. E-Day takes place 14 years before the first Gears of War, on the very day the Locust horde first bursts out of the ground.
In terms of gameplay, The Coalition has barely touched the formula—and that’s a good thing. You’ll be taking cover, mowing down all kinds of Locust creatures, and experiencing the kind of violence that Gears has never shied away from. New to the game is a completely overhauled movement system with smoother sprinting and climbing. Technically, the game runs on Unreal Engine 5 and looks simply fantastic.
The first reviews have been online since last week: At Metacritic, E-Day has a score of 87, making it the highest-rated Gears game since Gears of War 3.
E-Day officially launches on Tuesday at 5 p.m. German time, both on Steam and via PC Game Pass. Anyone who pre-ordered the Premium Edition has already been playing since October 1 (that five-day head start does cost extra, after all) . Also, make sure to set aside about 120 GB on your SSD.
More Exciting Steam Releases of the Week
Monday, October 5, 2026
- Aion 2: Free-to-play MMORPG that turns the sky into a battlefield. As winged warriors, you’ll battle in a world said to be 36 times larger than the original, both in the air and on the ground, with over 200 (solo) dungeons and a faction war. The sequel to this classic MMO has been available in Korea and Taiwan since November 2025.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
- STAR WARS: Galactic Racer: A racing game with roguelike elements from the studio led by former Criterion veteran Matt Webster. After the fall of the Empire, you play as pilot Shade, racing through an illegal league in the Outer Rim with landspeeders, speeder bikes, skim speeders, and podracers—where ramming and takedowns are actively encouraged. In addition to the story campaign, there are PvP races against other players.
Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival: First-person survival horror with plenty of action and the first standalone game in the Hellraiser series ever. You play as Aidan, who uses a cursed puzzle cube to try to rescue his girlfriend from hell and defends himself with firearms, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and chains from hell. Pinhead is once again voiced by Doug Bradley, and the story was co-written with Clive Barker.
- Order of the Sinking Star: A puzzle-adventure by Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid and The Witness. Over 1,000 hand-crafted, interlocking puzzles are spread across four worlds, whose mechanics gradually blend together.
- Silver Pines: 2.5D survival horror Metroidvania. As private detective Red Walker, you’re searching for the missing musician Eddie Velvet in a half-abandoned small town in the U.S. A demo is already available on Steam, and you can watch the cool trailer here:
- Forever Ago: A story-driven adventure in the form of a road trip, in which the protagonist, Alfred, sets off northward after a tragic turn of events. Along the way, you’ll take photos with his instant camera, solve small environmental puzzles, and experience a lifetime filled with love for his Audrey.
- Invokyr (Early Access): A co-op horror game for up to six players centered around a cursed board game from the ’70s. You roll the dice, search an abandoned house for special dice, and survive the monsters, traps, and curses that each roll summons until you defeat the Game Master. According to developer Ludogram, Early Access is expected to last about a year.
- Gear. Club Unlimited 3: A racing game featuring licensed sports cars that’s coming to PC following its exclusive Switch 2 launch in February. You’ll found the first Gear Club in Japan, tune around 40 cars, and race on over 50 tracks ranging from the Mediterranean coast to Japanese mountain roads.
- Two Point Museum: Rides & Relics (Expansion): Expansion for the museum management simulation. You’ll revive the dilapidated Riquetti Gardens amusement park and build your own mini-roller coasters for the first time, plus there’s a new five-star campaign and carnival experts for expeditions.
- Foundation: Harvest Festival (Expansion): First major expansion for the gridless medieval building game from Polymorph Games. You’ll raise chickens, pigs, and geese, plant orchards, press cider, and ultimately host your own harvest festival. A total of ten new buildings with over 120 components are added.
Friday, October 9, 2026
- Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen (Expansion): An expansion for Capcom’s action RPG that shares the same name as the 2013 add-on for the first game. It takes you to the icy region of Norgan with a new story and a loot system based on relics, which you can use to craft new gear. Installing the expansion also adds twelve new dungeons called Lost Rites to the main game.
- Permafrost (Early Access) : A story-driven survival sandbox game set in a world frozen in eternal winter after the moon shattered. As an engineer, you’ll follow the radio signal of an old friend, loot frozen cities, and build a network of shelters—either solo or in co-op with up to four players—always with a rescued dog by your side. Early Access is expected to last at least twelve months.
- PAPERHEAD: A boomer shooter with horror elements set in a cute cardboard world where something has obviously gone terribly wrong. Armed with a shotgun, explosives, sturdy boots, and a magic pencil that alters the environment, you’ll fight your way through an abandoned research facility. The free prologue received over 3,800 user reviews with a very positive overall rating.
- Truckful: A delivery adventure where you drive an old pickup truck along bumpy country roads, hauling fish, packages, and Grandma’s favorite vase. What looks like a cozy game actually features a mysterious old forest filled with supernatural encounters.
- Car Park Capital (Early Access): A satirical city-building game in the style of classic ’90s tycoon games, in which you’re commissioned by the auto industry to transform pedestrian-friendly small towns into parking lot wastelands. You buy plots of land, tear down houses, drill for oil, and use propaganda to convince the locals that a parking garage is exactly what their neighborhood needs.
This week really has something for everyone: shooter fans can dive into Gears of War: E-Day, MMO enthusiasts can check out Aion 2, horror fans can immerse themselves in Hellraiser: Revival and Silver Pines, and city-building gamers will find plenty to keep them busy with Car Park Capital, Two Point Museum, and the Foundation DLC. Which game are you adding to your hard drive this week? Let us know in the comments!
