But according to one source familiar with Xbox’s business, the cost of
Gears of War: E-Day is in fact much higher. They told
Kotaku it was over $500 million, and that’s before you include marketing. That would put it significantly above
the reported budgets of other console-exclusive blockbusters this generation, like
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
E-Day would need to sell millions and millions of copies across all platforms to make up the difference. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.
Current forecasts suggest
E-Day‘s nowhere close.
Alinea Analytics estimated the game sold 230,000 copies in its first week and generated just $37 million in revenue, a big chunk of which came from Game Pass subscribers paying $30 for the Premium Edition Upgrade to unlock early access.