The Coalition-developed fifth entry in the Gears of War franchise released earlier this month, and according to a Microsoft statement today, the game now holds the record for the having the biggest launch week of this generation by a first-party Xbox studio. The launch week performance includes the four days of early access that only Gears 5 Ultimate Edition owners and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers had access to.
Celebrating the occasion, Microsoft threw around some numbers and comparisons, although there aren't any sales breakdowns.
Combining the Xbox One, Windows 10, and Steam releases together with Xbox Game Pass, Gears 5 had attracted over three million players during its opening weekend alone. According to Microsoft, only Halo 4's launch week numbers from 2012 had matched up with Gears 5's impressive performance.
Comparing to the last game, the company said that overall, Gears 5 opening week showed over double the player numbers of Gears of War 4, "easily" surpassing it. If looking at just PC numbers, the new title saw triple the players compared to its predecessor, while also having the biggest Xbox Game Pass for PC launch as well the "best-ever debut on Steam" for an Xbox Game Studios title.
The console and PC Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, as well as the Ultimate variant, are certainly proving to be immensely popular. With Halo Infinite, Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Age of Empires 4, and more games planned - which are all also Xbox Game Pass launch titles -, we may have to get used to hearing about record-breaking numbers from Xbox Game Studios going forward.
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