Gears of War: E-Day launched to positive reviews and, on the surface, might look to be a big success, but if current numbers are to be believed, it could be a disaster in the making. The good news is that reports state that more than 400,000 units of Gears of War: E-Day have been sold since it launched for PC and Xbox on October 6. This, per The Verge’s Tom Warren, who stated that those numbers include sales from Xbox and Steam. Unfortunately, this is only part of the story, and according to multiple sources, these sales may be a drop in the bucket of what’s needed to cover the game’s development costs.
One source, Jason Schreier, claims that roughly $500 million — yes, half a billion dollars — was spent on getting Gears of War: E-Day out. So the game is available for either $69.99 or $99.99, and the lowball figure, if just going by the base game, comes out to roughly $27,996,000, and if going for the dream number in having those opting for the Premium Edition, we see an unlikely $39,996,000 total. However, in order to cover the cost of half a billion, Microsoft would need to sell somewhere in the area of 5 million copies to break even.
Microsoft and Sony have both reignited the console wars by returning to console-exclusive strategies, and it remains to be seen if either is truly winning anything with this approach. While there’s been some attempt to paint the recent release of Marvel’s Wolverine on PlayStation 5 as a success, Sony has not released sales figures or development costs for the title yet. Both console manufacturers have a slate of titles set to release in 2027 and 2028 that are said to be exclusives, but if Gears of War: E-Day is any indication, they each could be in for some undesired surprises when those numbers hit the books.
Discussion (1 reply)
Join Discussion →I haven't played it, and as usual I will reserve judgement until I get hands-on, but Microsoft doesn't have any studios that know how to make system-seller games any more. Even if the games are good, they don't have people running to stores to grab the consoles just to play 'em. They're smart to keep releasing those games on the same day for PC, cuz they need every sale they can get. Cuz as poorly as the Xbox hardware family has been doing, if those games were exclusive just to Xbox consoles they'd be doing even worse. When was the last time anyone involved in console gaming really went out of their way to get an Xbox console? They either got PS4/PS5 and/or Switch 1/2. And if they are a PC gamer that also dabbles in consoles, again those are the two systems they would have on the side. To a PC gamer an Xbox console is even more useless since those same games are available on PC. Microsoft doesn't really have anything to draw in and completely capture console gamers, and what games they have that might be decent can be played on PC. I don't think anyone is dashing to the store to grab an Xbox console for those games though.
And not related, but if Sony knew what's good for them (they don't) they would continue to throw their games on PC. But who gives a sh1t about making more money right? Gotta give people a reason to purchase their hardware, that's what's important. Hardware which is just as overpriced as GPUs, RAM, and NAND for PCs. Can't wait to see what PS6 costs. And Microsoft's next console, if their console business even survives that long.