Gears of War: E-Day draws 1.7m on Game Pass against 230,000 sales

Gears of War: E-Day has drawn about 1.7 million players through Game Pass alongside around 230,000 direct sales since its advance-access release at the start of October. The figures, estimated by Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliott and published on 9 October, put total earnings above US$37 million, about £28 million, from outright sales, microtransactions and paid upgrades Eurogamer. Most played on subscription.

Of those 230,000 sales, about 168,000 were on Steam, Valve's PC shop, and about 62,000 were on Xbox consoles and PC. More than 722,000 Game Pass players also paid US$30 for a Premium Edition upgrade on top of their subscription, Microsoft's monthly games library. That upgrade spending, plus direct sales and microtransactions, small optional purchases inside the game, makes up the US$37 million total.

The Premium Edition, priced at US$99.99, gave early access from a release on 1 October. The full launch, for regular Game Pass subscribers and Standard Edition buyers, followed with a worldwide release on 6 October at 8:00 a.m. PT, or 15:00 UTC. The game had officially gone gold, industry term for a finished version ready for release, before pre-install, the advance download before release, began on 29 September at 8 a.m. Pacific Time. It is available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Windows PC, Game Pass and Steam Xbox.

The early audience leans on familiar shooters and large online games. On Xbox, more than 80% of E-Day players had previously played another Gears game, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto 5 and Halo Infinite. On Steam, 72% of E-Day players came from Counter-Strike and 65% came from Helldivers 2.

What makes this stand out is where the money came from. Far more people played through subscription than bought the game outright, yet hundreds of thousands of subscribers still paid extra to play early or unlock more. For players, that means two doors into the same launch: subscription on day one, or a paid edition for a head start.

Xbox backed the release with extras beyond the game. Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controllers arrived on 30 September. The company also offered fans a chance to win one of three custom Gibson guitars inspired by characters Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago.