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Xbox console exclusive Gears of War: E-Day is reportedly off to a soft start after reaching an estimated 230,000 copies sold in its first week.
The alleged sales update arrived from Alinea Analytics' head of marketing analysis, Rhys Elliott, who shared early data for the Gears prequel on X/Twitter. After arriving via early access last week (its full launch arrived this past Tuesday), Gears of War: E-Day has reportedly moved just 230,000 copies across PC and Xbox devices.
Steam sales account for 168,000 of that number, with Xbox sales, including both console and PC, totaling just 62,000. These numbers, which are unofficial figures that have not been backed by Microsoft in any official capacity and should be taken with a grain of salt, are low for the game leading the charge on Xbox's refocus toward exclusive games, as players shift their attention from purchasing the base experience to dipping their toes in with Game Pass.
Game Pass is seemingly to blame for its performance related to raw copies sold on Xbox-supported devices, with Elliott saying the subscription service is "cannibalising much of the premium revenue." While that's not to say Gears of War: E-Day is having trouble garnering attention – Alinea estimated that 1.7 million players have accessed the game via Game Pass – the data does suggest that players are far more interested in access through their subscriptions rather than outright owning a copy.
Of the nearly 2 million to launch Gears of War: E-Day through Game Pass, 722,000 users are believed to have paid the extra $30 to upgrade to its Premium Edition to unlock early access. Revenue earned through the Xbox ecosystem reportedly amounted to $27 million, with total earnings reaching about $37 million. How exactly Gears of War: E-Day may have factored into revenue earned through new and returning Game Pass subscriptions is currently unclear.
"While E-Day is a sublime game (it's made my top 10), these are soft numbers for a flagship when Xbox badly needs revenue wins," Elliott said. "E-Day sold 62K copies on Xbox against 722K Premium upgrades, so for every one copy sold on Xbox, nearly 12 Game Pass upgrades were sold. The $70 premium SKU is – functionally – dead on Xbox. In a world without day-one Game Pass, many of these folks would have bought E-Day at $70. They paid $30 for five days early access to something they don’t own. Xbox is, in effect, charging its most valuable customers the least, based on a hangover from a tried-and-exhausted strategy from a previous administration."
The idea that Game Pass has negatively affected standalone sales is something Microsoft has seemingly been internally aware of before, with 2023 documents related to the Activision Blizzard merger noting a decline in base game sales in the first year after a title is added to the service. The Xbox company told IGN at the time that the model "offers gamers and game creators more choice and opportunity in how they discover, experience, and deliver games."
While Microsoft has yet to confirm official sales data, and it's unclear how Gears of War: E-Day may have driven new Game Pass subscriptions, slow sales could sour an otherwise successful launch. The Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago-led prequel emerged with strong reviews from both fans and critics, with IGN's early review, which covered only the campaign mode, awarding a 9/10.
Earlier this week, The Coalition studio head Mike Crump said Gears of War: E-Day is a "natural choice to be" an Xbox exclusive. He also addressed concerns around potential layoffs at the studio, while promising that the next installment in the series won't take nearly as long to make.
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