1.7 million playing, few buying: 'Gears of War: E-Day' sales are modest despite the praise, analyst estimates
According to Alinea Analytics, the Xbox shooter sold around 230,000 copies, while most of its audience played through Game Pass.
Foto: Xbox Game Studios via Kotaku'Gears of War: E-Day' may be the best-reviewed game in the series in a long time, but sales have not matched critics' enthusiasm, according to an estimate released on Friday (Oct. 9). Rhys Elliott, an analyst at data firm Alinea Analytics, said on X that the game sold around 230,000 copies, 168,000 on Steam and 62,000 on Xbox and Microsoft's PC store. Microsoft has not confirmed the figures.
The explanation would be Game Pass. By the estimate, 1.7 million people played 'E-Day' through the subscription service, and 722,000 of them paid $30 for the Premium Edition, which unlocked the game five days early. Total revenue is estimated at about $37 million, almost three-quarters of it from the Xbox ecosystem.
Elliott criticized the model, saying Xbox is 'in effect, charging its most valuable customers the least', since subscribers 'paid $30 for five days early access to something they don't own'. As a third-party estimate, the numbers should be treated with caution until any official disclosure from Microsoft.
