Report: Gears of War: E-Day cost $500 million to make, sales near 400,000
Bloomberg's Jason Schreier backed Kotaku's budget figure, while The Verge put E-Day sales at just over 400,000 copies across Xbox and PC this week.
Gears of War: E-Day cost Microsoft about $500 million to develop, according to reports that Bloomberg's Jason Schreier backed this week, while The Verge says the game has sold just over 400,000 copies on Xbox and PC. Neither figure has been confirmed by Microsoft, which has not responded to requests for comment on the budget.
Where the numbers come from
Kotaku first reported the $500 million figure and said it excludes marketing. Schreier repeated it in a video about EA's closure of BioWare, calling it "a real number" and arguing that budgets on this scale are what push publishers toward layoffs, outsourcing and only the safest franchises. Alinea Analytics' Rhys Elliott had earlier estimated 311,000 copies and $42.1 million in revenue across Steam and Xbox by October 13, a week after launch.
That math looks rough, but it misses part of the picture. Gears of War: E-Day launched straight into Xbox Game Pass on day one, and Elliott noted a bump in subscriptions around release. How much of the budget Microsoft books against Game Pass growth is not public.
How it compares
If accurate, $500 million puts E-Day among the most expensive games ever made. Bungie's Marathon reportedly cost over $250 million, FTC case documents showed The Last of Us Part II and Horizon Forbidden West each topped $200 million, and a court filing revealed Activision spent $700 million on Black Ops Cold War over its whole life cycle.
E-Day shipped only on Xbox Series X|S and PC after Microsoft returned to console exclusives under Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. When Sharma discussed Xbox results this week she highlighted Minecraft, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and did not mention Gears.
What it means for The Coalition
The studio has been nervous. Eurogamer reported staff expecting layoffs or a reorganisation under Activision after launch, and studio head Mike Crump has promised the next Gears will not take as long. He also told the BBC that success is measured partly by showcasing Xbox hardware, not sales alone. With nearly 2,000 jobs already cut in Sharma's reset this fiscal year and more to come, the next few months will show whether that argument holds.
Source: IGN; Bloomberg (Jason Schreier); Kotaku; The Verge; Alinea Analytics.
