Gears of War: E-Day is launching into Xbox Game Pass, and because of that, the majority of the game’s moneymaking potential will be cannibalized by its inclusion on the service. That’s according to Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics, who released a report today that covers this, the game’s initial sales on Steam, and the possibility of a PlayStation 5 port sometime down the road.
According to Elliott, E-Day has surpassed 120,000 copies sold on Steam at this point, generating more than $7 million in revenue. The game arrives on October 6, but people who pay more can jump in starting October 1. For more, check out the official global launch times for E-Day.
Elliott’s data showed that E-Day has already sold more than 2X what Halo: Campaign Evolved did over a similar period of time. With 120,000 sales on Steam already, E-Day is unlikely to hit 1 million copies on the platform ever, Elliott said.
Additionally, he said “most” of the revenue from the Xbox version will be “eaten up by Game Pass. The game’s inclusion on Game Pass might also encourage some people to sign up, so sales alone do not tell the whole story.
In any event, Microsoft has already decided to pull some key titles out of Game Pass, presumably due to lost revenue. Microsoft’s Activision division no longer puts new Call of Duty games into Game Pass at launch, for example, with this October’s Modern Warfare 4 not coming to Game Pass until Fall 2027. Going forward, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said the company might opt to “window” other titles, presumably to help Microsoft make more money from direct game sales.
In 2023, Microsoft admitted that putting games into Game Pass cannibalizes full-game sales. At the same time, a game coming to Game Pass can actually help improve sales in some scenarios.
