Ever wondered how much money went into Gears of War: E-Day’s release this year? Well, we don’t have any official figures on this, but a “source” for Kotaku has claimed that Xbox put over $500 million into it.
Their report claims that it’s a “source familiar with Xbox’s business”, and that the $500 million figure doesn’t actually include marketing for the game either. Microsoft apparently didn’t respond when asked for comment on this.
Here’s a look at the bit from the report in question:
“But according to one source familiar with Xbox’s business, the cost of Gears of War: E-Day is in fact much higher. They told Kotaku it was over $500 million, and that’s before you include marketing.”
“But according to one source familiar with Xbox’s business, the cost of Gears of War: E-Day is in fact much higher. They told Kotaku it was over $500 million, and that’s before you include marketing.”
Kotaku says this makes it significantly higher than the reported budgets of other console exclusives this generation, such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 which was rumoured to cost around $300 million.
However, not everyone agrees. A few months ago, Insider Gaming journalist Tom Henderson stated on a podcast that he’d heard Gears of War: E-Day cost “upwards of $400 million”, which he described as “insane”.
Windows Central’s Jez Corden then acknowledged this on the Xbox Two podcast, explaining that the $400 million wasn’t just for Gears of War: E-Day, as The Coalition works on many other games (Forza, Fable) and even beyond games (“the technological glue for all of Xbox”) and some money “is spread across the entire portfolio”. He advised that you “can’t say” Gears of War: E-Day had a $400 million budget, and that it’s “not even the case”.
“The $400 million is not all Gears E-Day. You’ve got to remember that The Coalition is the technological glue for all of Xbox. They don’t just work on games, they work on dev tools, they work on Unreal Engine, they work on a lot of stuff beyond simply Gears of War. Some of that money is spread across the entire portfolio. And it’s not just the Unreal games either – The Coalition has contributed to Forza, to Fable, to everything. You can’t really say ‘Gears: E-Day has a $400 million budget’. That’s not even the case.”
“The $400 million is not all Gears E-Day. You’ve got to remember that The Coalition is the technological glue for all of Xbox. They don’t just work on games, they work on dev tools, they work on Unreal Engine, they work on a lot of stuff beyond simply Gears of War. Some of that money is spread across the entire portfolio. And it’s not just the Unreal games either – The Coalition has contributed to Forza, to Fable, to everything. You can’t really say ‘Gears: E-Day has a $400 million budget’. That’s not even the case.”
Ultimately, we’re not going to get an official answer unless Microsoft / Xbox comes out and says how much the budget was, and that seems unlikely at this point. The figures that are being quoted are certainly extravagant, but we’re inclined to believe what Jez is saying about the budget being spread across far more than just one single game.
In any case, we absolutely love Gears of War: E-Day, awarding it a rare 10/10 score at launch!
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