Gears of War: E-Day, like most Xbox exclusives, launched day one on Game Pass, but also like most exclusives, that strategy may have backfired.
Alinea Analytics reports that E-Day has sold an estimated 230,000 copies since launching in advanced access on October 1, with Steam accounting for 168,000 of those sales. Head of market analysis Rhys Elliott claims that Game Pass is "cannibalizing much of the premium revenue," with 1.7 million players accessing the game via the service. An estimated 722,000 of whom paid $30 for the five-day early access period, meaning roughly 950,000 people have paid for E-Day in some fashion.
GamesIndustry.biz head Christopher Dring claimed in 2025 that "games that are in Game Pass can expect to lose around 80 percent of expected premium sales on Xbox."
While that might sound good on paper, E-Day has generated an estimated $37 million in revenue, a slow start for what should be a tentpole Xbox exclusive, as nearly 12 upgrades were sold for every copy purchased outright. In so many words, subscribers are completely circumventing the $70 premium.
Now that Xbox is chasing an unreasonable 1 billion daily players and doubling down on its biggest...
