Gears of War: E-Day’ Estimated at 320,000 Copies Sold in First Week Despite Strong Reviews

Despite being hailed as the best-rated entry in its series in years, bağlantı”>Gears of War: E-Day is facing scrutiny over its commercial performance. According to data firm Alinea Analytics, Microsoft’s newest console-exclusive shooter moved just 320,000 copies during its first week, while drawing an estimated 1.7 million players through Game Pass.

The figures come from Rhys Elliott of Alinea, who bağlantı”>posted on X on October 9—about a week after the game’s early access window opened—that E-Day had sold 230,000 copies. Steam accounted for 168,000 of those, with Xbox (console and PC) selling 62K. Elliott noted that Xbox makes up nearly three-quarters of revenue.

“Gears of War: E-Day has sold 230K copies,” Alinea’s Rhys Elliott posted on October 9, “Steam accounts for 168K of those, with Xbox (console and PC) selling 62K. But there’s more to this story, as Xbox makes up the bulk of revenue (almost three-quarters).”

Rhys Elliott / Alinea Analytics

Elliam argues that Game Pass is cannibalizing premium sales without driving substantial new adoption among subscribers or a notable rise in sign-ups. Of those 1.7 million players who accessed the game via subscription, an estimated 722,000 paid $30 for the Premium Edition upgrade to gain early access.

The roughly $37 million in revenue so far—$26 million attributed to Xbox players—reflects a business model that Elliott suggests may be undercutting its most loyal customers. “In a world without day-one Game Pass, many of these folks would have bought E-Day at $70,” he wrote. “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 analyst pointed to concerns about The Coalition and other Xbox teams bağlantı”>currently worried about future cuts. “If the business model isn’t working for a game of the quality level Gears of War: E-Day is at,” Elliott wrote, “then there clearly must be an issue with the business model.” He suggested that raising the price of day-one access could help, though a cheaper, ad-supported tier would not solve the problem.

Elliam’s analysis leads to one possible conclusion: Microsoft may eventually remove day-one first-party releases from the service, as it announced earlier this year it would do with bağlantı”>Call of Duty.

The figures have not been independently verified. Alinea Analytics’ estimates are its own; Microsoft has not publicly confirmed E-Day’s sales or Game Pass participation numbers.