Microsoft’s latest console exclusive, Gears of War: E-Day, launched this week, and now we’ve gotten the first glimpse at how the game is performing commercially. Multiple analysts have weighed in, and there are numerous factors at play beyond pure sales, due to Game Pass and other factors. So let’s break things down.
Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics released a report that said the game has sold about 230,000 copies so far, with Steam sales accounting for 168,000 and Xbox (across console and PC) making up the other 62,000.
Straight sales do not tell the whole story, though, because E-Day is available on Game Pass, which Elliott said “cannibalized” the majority of sales. He said Alinea’s data showed than 1.7 million people acquired E-Day through their Game Pass subscription as opposed to buying a copy outright.
There is more nuance there, too, as Elliott said that 722,000 of the 1.7 million people who played E-Day through Game Pass bought the $30 Premium upgrade, which got them in early and awarded them with extra content.
“So despite selling far fewer copies on Steam, Xbox accounts for almost three-quarters of the revenue (roughly $26 million of the $37 million, versus about $11 million on Steam). So ‘230,000 copies’ undersells the paying audience. Including the 722,000 upgrades, nearly 950,000 people actually paid something for E-Day.”
Elliott concluded that these are “soft numbers” at a time “when Xbox badly needs revenue wins.” In this environment, Elliott said E-Day’s $70 edition is “functionally dead on Xbox.”
“In a world without day-one Game Pass, many of these folks would have bought E-Day at $70. They paid $30 for five days early access to something they don’t own. Xbox is, in effect, charging its most valuable customers the least, based on a hangover from a tried-and-exhausted strategy from a previous administration,” he said.
More to the story
Game Pass creates recurring revenue for Xbox, and it’s big business. For the latest fiscal year, Game Pass brought in nearly $5 billion in revenue. E-Day’s inclusion on Game Pass adds value to the service for Game Pass members.
