Analyst Rhys Elliott from Alinea Analytics has published a report on the initial financial performance of Gears of War: E-Day. Total revenue reached $37 million, and direct sales amounted to only 230 thousand copies: 168 thousand on Steam and 62 thousand on Xbox and PC. The main influx of audience was provided by the Game Pass service, through which over 1.7 million people became familiar with the shooter.
Image Source: Xbox
A significant portion of the initial revenue was generated by service subscribers. More than 722 thousand people purchased a premium upgrade for $30 for early access, which opened on October 1 – five days before the full release for standard edition buyers (October 6).
“In a world without Game Pass, on day one, many of these people would have bought E-Day for $70, – the analyst suggested. — They paid $30 for five days of early access to something they don’t own.”.
Let us recall that earlier the Xbox management, led by Asha Sharma, changed the Game Pass strategy and refused to release new parts of Call of Duty on the service on the first day. Now new games in the series appear in the subscription only a year after the premiere. Some analysts believe a similar timed exclusivity approach could spread to other flagship franchises Gears of War and Forza.
The Alinea Analytics article also provides interesting statistics on the intersection of audiences: 65% of Steam players switched to E-Day straight from Helldivers 2, and 72% from Counter-Strike. The head of The Coalition studio Mike Crump called the new Gears of War “an excellent foundation” for sequels, promising to also reduce their development time.
Gears of War: E-Day was released on October 6th on PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), Xbox Series X and S, and on Game Pass.
If you notice an error, select it with the mouse and press CTRL+ENTER.
