Analyst says Gears of War: E-Day sells just 230K copies in first week
A new Gears of War game may have had a soft launch when it comes to actual sales, per an analyst report. According to IGN, data from Alinea Analytics estimates Gears of War: E-Day sold only 230,000 copies in its first week.
The analyst, Rhys Elliott, posted the figures online. He claimed the sales are split between 168,000 copies on Steam and just 62,000 across the Xbox console and PC storefronts. The numbers are unofficial and have not been confirmed by Microsoft.
The report suggests Game Pass is a major factor. Elliott said the subscription service is "cannibalising much of the premium revenue." While an estimated 1.7 million players accessed the game via Game Pass, far fewer bought it outright.
Of those Game Pass players, about 722,000 reportedly paid an extra $30 for a Premium Edition upgrade to get early access. Total revenue from the Xbox ecosystem was estimated at $27 million, with overall earnings around $37 million.
Elliott called the figures soft for a flagship title, noting that for every copy sold on Xbox, nearly 12 Premium upgrades were sold through Game Pass. He argued the standard $70 game is "functionally dead" on Xbox under this model.
Microsoft has previously acknowledged internally that Game Pass can lead to a decline in base game sales in a title's first year on the service. The company has not released official sales data for Gears of War: E-Day.
