E-DayGuide
Xbox Store
Story and Characters

When and Where Gears of War: E-Day Takes Place

When does Gears of War: E-Day take place? Fourteen years before the first game, over three days in the city of Kalona on Sera, right after the Pendulum Wars.

Published 2026-10-049 cited sources
On this page

Short answer

Fourteen years before Gears of War, across three days in Kalona

The story takes place fourteen years before the original Gears of War. It begins on Emergence Day itself and covers three days, centred on one city: Kalona, on the planet Sera.

It opens just after the Pendulum Wars have ended. Sera has declared peace for the first time in almost eighty years, and Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago are in Kalona for an armistice memorial when the ground opens.

When
14 years before Gears of War
Duration
Three days
Where
Kalona, on Sera
An empty electronics store with a neon sign and rows of televisions showing a civil emergency message
Official still of an empty Kalona electronics store, its televisions showing a civil emergency message. The city is shown before and during the invasion.

The three days

The campaign’s arc as described by brand director Nicole Fawcette
PhaseWhat happensMood
Night oneThe ground opens. Nobody understands what is attacking.Confusion and fear
Day twoSurvivors connect with the military, Bravo Squad forms and deploys on missions.Regrouping
Day threeIt becomes clear this is not an isolated attack but a world-altering event.Desperation

Pure Xbox’s review refers to the campaign as the 72 hours since Emergence.

The moment in history

The Pendulum Wars consumed generations on Sera. Marcus and Dom were, in Xbox’s words, simply the most recent to ship out. When the game starts they are young veterans trying to work out what comes next. IGN’s review describes Marcus as ready to re-enlist, while Dom wants to go home to his wife Maria and their two young children.

The peace is shadowed by a death. Carlos Santiago, Dom’s older brother and Marcus’s best friend, died in combat shortly before the war ended; Pure Xbox’s review puts that two years before the game. Fawcette says the loss has left the two men “distant.”

Kalona

Kalona is a new city created for this game: industrial, built around the Imulsion refineries that sustain it, with a sports stadium, a working waterfront, an airfield at its edge and dense residential neighbourhoods. The Coalition modelled its geography on Vancouver, where the studio is based.

The story never cuts away to other parts of the world. Creative director Matt Searcy says the game never leaves Bravo Squad, so the player sees and learns only what the squad does. He compares the approach to Band of Brothers. Emergence Day is a global catastrophe, but the studio chose one city so the human cost would not get lost.

Xbox describes Kalona as the city where all of E-Day takes place. IGN’s review adds a nuance: the campaign also goes into the Locust-dug caves beneath the city and up to the mountaintops outside it, so not every chapter is on city streets.

Places you visit

Kalona locations named in official previews and reviews
LocationRole in the story
City HallBecomes the COG’s base, where the mayor and Colonel Trench clash.
Oria StadiumA landmark turned forward operating base, where Bravo meets Tai Kaliso and Theta Squad.
Rail stationAn early objective for Bravo Squad in Act 2.
Police stationA set piece singled out in Pure Xbox’s review; also a Versus map.
Imulsion refineryWhere Mags Carter worked before the invasion.

Dom’s family is not in Kalona. He asks after Ephyra, where they live.

How old are Marcus and Dom?

The game does not need you to know, and official sources do not state their ages. What they do say is that both are young veterans and that the story is fourteen years before the first game. We are not giving a number, because any figure would be worked out from older lore rather than from E-Day itself.

What comes next in the timeline

The original Gears of War picks up fourteen years later, deep into the Locust War. Gears of War 4 and Gears 5 follow a later generation. E-Day sits before all of them, which is why it can be played first.

Quick questions

What year is Gears of War: E-Day set?

Official sources describe it relative to the first game: fourteen years earlier. They do not give a calendar year.

Is Kalona from an earlier game?

No. Kalona was created for E-Day. Xbox’s feature says the team drew on Vancouver to build it.

Does the story leave Kalona?

It stays with one squad around Kalona for all three days. IGN’s review notes trips into the caves beneath the city and the mountains just outside it.

Next step

Gears of War: E-Day Characters and Voice CastYou know the time and place. Meet the squad the story follows.

Sources

Where these answers come from