Gears of War: E-Day launched on October 6, and barely two weeks later the numbers behind it are starting to come out. According to a report published today that cites a source familiar with Xbox’s business, the game cost more than $500 million to make, and that is before marketing.
That figure was quickly backed by two of the best-connected reporters on the Xbox beat. Chris Dring posted on X: “Yes, so this, from what I’m told, is very true. $500 million. Unbelievable.” Jez Corden said “they aint wrong on the figure,” though he added that his sources disagree on how that money was allocated, since some of the spending on tools and engine work at The Coalition also supports other projects.
“Absolutely not”
Then a fan asked Corden directly whether E-Day was a success and whether it had recouped its budget. His reply on X:
“Absolutely not, but msft is looking to boost engagement on console rn and build xbox back up, so i would imagine they’re seeing it as a loss leader maybe? idk. lot of speculation right now that im looking to flesh out where possible.”
Jez Corden on X
Read it carefully: that is a reporter answering a reply on X, not a sales figure. He is clear that it is not a success in the recouped-its-budget sense, and just as clear that the rest is his guess. Microsoft has not shared sales numbers, and third-party estimates put full-price sales in the low hundreds of thousands, with most players coming in through Game Pass.
Why the PS5 question keeps coming back
This is the part that stings for Xbox. Microsoft announced at its June showcase that E-Day would stay an Xbox console exclusive, after a retailer listing had shown a PS5 version, and reports at the time said a near-complete PS5 port already existed. Xbox has said the decision was not a last-minute one and that the exclusivity is permanent, not timed.
At $500 million, no single platform was going to make that money back quickly. Keeping E-Day on Xbox only makes sense if Microsoft is measuring it the way Corden suggests: as a reason to own an Xbox and stay subscribed to Game Pass, rather than a game that has to pay for itself.
The game itself was well received by critics (everything we have on it is on our Gears of War: E-Day page). Whether it was worth half a billion dollars to Microsoft is a question only its own numbers can answer, and those are staying private for now.
