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[Eddie-Griffin]

Gears of War franchise has over 40 million copies sold on Xbox and PC

From its debut in 2006 to today, the Gears of War franchise has reached and exceeded 40 million copies sold on Xbox and PC.

thegamespoof.com

rom the same press release we also learn, as mentioned at the beginning, that the Gears of War franchise to date boasts over 40 million copies sold.

“With over 40 million copies sold, Gears of War is one of gaming’s richest and most acclaimed sagas,” reads the release, subsequently summarizing the opening of the series. “A society divided and on the brink of collapse faces total extinction by the Locust, a monstrous threat from below. Delta Squad, a ragtag fireteam led by disgraced sergeant Marcus Fenix, is now charged with leading humanity’s last stand. The series has been critically acclaimed for redefining the tactical third-person and co-operative shooter genre and has one of gaming’s most passionate fanbases.”
This is an interesting detail, especially considering that Microsoft is usually reluctant to provide accurate sales numbers. For example, the previous official data dates back to November 2012, when Gears of War had exceeded 19 million copies sold in the world just over a year after the launch of the third chapter.

Based on sales data of prior games, almost half of that number, 16-18 million, would have had to of come from Gears of War 4 and 5, the latest two games.

So for those who were thinking the franchise was stale and why MS was still continuing the franchise instead of sunsetting it there you go. it's still a money maker and sells copies. Just needs to be managed better to encourage better and longer lasting growth.

With this revelation, Halo, Gears, and Forza were literally holding up most Xbox One sales by themselves, along with Sea of Thieves, Killer Instinct and Titanfall 1 as support.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Gears 6 must be getting revealed soon.

 

[anthony2690]

Gears 6 must be getting revealed soon.

I thought Coalition were making a new IP first?

Either way, I hope Gears 6 isn't too many years away, as it's probably my fave series

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I thought Coalition were making a new IP first?

Either way, I hope Gears 6 isn't too many years away, as it's probably my fave series

I heard it was a smaller scale new IP.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Give me gears 6! It's gonna be epic...just get the teams working on hivebusters etc....fuck yeah!

 

[anthony2690]

I heard it was a smaller scale new IP.

I'm really curious to see what it is regardless, will be nice seeing something new, hope it turns out good whatever it is

 

[Celcius]

Gears 6? I'd rather have the original trilogy on Steam
Glad to see the franchise selling well though.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Hats off to the second best GoW.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

40 million between 6 games for a marquee franchise? Actually surprised it isn't more.

 

[Kacho]

Damn that’s impressive.

I’m sure there’s a lot of people like me who criticize the direction of the series but still buy and play the games.

 

[MOTM]

Don’t know about you guys but I really enjoyed Gears 5.

Need a little bit of a shakeup for Gears 6 though

 

[Iced Arcade]

I loved all the Gears. Not a fan of JD and the hip kids though but the games were solid.

I thought Coalition were making a new IP first?

Either way, I hope Gears 6 isn't too many years away, as it's probably my fave series

Could be wrong but I thought they had 2 teams with 1 working in gears and the other on a new IP

 

[anthony2690]

I loved all the Gears. Not a fan of JD and the hip kids though but the games were solid.


Could be wrong but I thought they had 2 teams with 1 working in gears and the other on a new IP

I guess we will find out soon, I honestly have no idea, all I know is we keep hearing they are assisting every other studio at Microsoft recently XD

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

40 million between 6 games for a marquee franchise? Actually surprised it isn't more.

Gears didn't sell as much on the 360 as people think it did. All 3 sold well up front and had decent legs hitting 3 million pretty quickly, but of those first three games only the first two had legs that put them further along. So you had Gear 1 and 2 making most of that first 20 million sells with 3 contributing ~4 mill to it.

JD and the hip kids

Weeknights on CNN+ by Disney.

 

[fatmarco]

Based on sales data of prior games, almost half of that number, 16-18 million, would have had to of come from Gears of War 4 and 5, the latest two games.

That's probably not true.

There was also Gears of War: Ultimate Edition plus the fact that they gave the entire Gears of War Saga as bonuses for a lot of the newer games, meaning you'd get 4-5 games "sold" instead of just one game, and there's the fact that they've been selling the original Gears of War games on sale consistently for a decade since then.

 

[yurinka]

40 million between 6 games for a marquee franchise? Actually surprised it isn't more.

Don't forget the remake, Gears Pop and Gears Tactics. 8/9 releases.

 

[Calverz]

Gears 5 horde mode is sooooo gooodd

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

That's probably not true.

There was also Gears of War: Ultimate Edition plus the fact that they gave the entire Gears of War Saga as bonuses for a lot of the newer games, meaning you'd get 4-5 games "sold" instead of just one game, and there's the fact that they've been selling the original Gears of War games on sale consistently for a decade since then.

Everything your saying adds 2-3 million sales tops. You're talking about Xbox One releases here, Gears Remake made it to a million, the Xbox giveaways of the 3 gear games was limited, and general downloads weren't that high on the Xbox One, and many games were on sale not just Gears.

Meanwhile the biggest Gears releases on the Xbox One were 4 and 5, which were also brought for the XBS consoles. Gears of War 4 was said to have had 6 million players in a leak. While that doesn't mean sales, it does show that 4 was a big release, and so was 5.

 

[Goalus]

Don't forget the remake, Gears Pop and Gears Tactics. 8/9 releases.

Gears Pop is free to play.
There are seven GoW games, so it's 7M on average. Judgment and Tactics probably sold less than the main games. 7+7+7+7+7+3+2=40

 

[XXL]

I would of thought it would be more considering it is about 8 games in total.

 

[SEGA_2012]

It deserves 400 million of copies. One of the best franchises of all time.

 

[Slicker than your average]

Do not believe for one minute gears 4 and 5 did half of the entire franchise sales. If you think a game that launched on gamepass that was also offering mass 1 dollar sales at the same time to drive gamepass.

Gears 2 and 3 easily sold gangbusters then there's ultimate and tactics.

 

[Tiamat2san]

My favourite action game franchise and by far.
This series has everything i like in a video game.

 

[MiguelItUp]

40 million between 6 games for a marquee franchise? Actually surprised it isn't more.

This was my reaction too. But, I guess it IS really impressive from a Microsoft IP perspective. I legit thought it made more money though.

Do not believe for one minute gears 4 and 5 did half of the entire franchise sales. If you think a game that launched on gamepass that was also offering mass 1 dollar sales at the same time to drive gamepass.

Gears 2 and 3 easily sold gangbusters then there's ultimate and tactics.

Yeaaaah. I personally never tried any of the games after 3. I heard Judgement wasn't too bad, but the new threats in 4, along with things in 5 just didn't seem that appealing to me, I guess...

Hell, Crowbcat's video didn't really make my decision any harder. I'd love to get pulled back into the series though.

God, 1 and 2 were SO good.

 

[Chiggs]

Gears of War Judgement remaster/remake over Gears 6 please.

 

[Banjo64]

40 million between 6 games for a marquee franchise? Actually surprised it isn't more.

Really? Uncharted is only slightly ahead and that includes 1-4, Golden Abyss, Lost Legacy and The Nathan Drake Collection.

To be fair they’ve now launched the PS5/PC port so it’s probably much more ahead.

 

[adamsapple]

Gears 6 must be getting revealed soon.

Well they did come out with the movie announcement out of the blue .. I won't be surprised if an announcement for a future game project comes soon as well.

 

[gow3isben]

Old man Marcus for Gears 6!

Kate is so dull

Heck make her the final boss

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

40 million between 6 games for a marquee franchise? Actually surprised it isn't more.

Given the downturn of the Xbox One generation and lack of its sales it's pretty solid numbers. Red Dead II sold approx 45M (70M for franchise) so seeing GoW at 40Mil is pretty in the zone of miid-high performance really. They're averaging nearly 7Mil sold per release on rough numbers.

 

[fatmarco]

Everything your saying adds 2-3 million sales tops. You're talking about Xbox One releases here, Gears Remake made it to a million, the Xbox giveaways of the 3 gear games was limited, and general downloads weren't that high on the Xbox One, and many games were on sale not just Gears.

Meanwhile the biggest Gears releases on the Xbox One were 4 and 5, which were also brought for the XBS consoles. Gears of War 4 was said to have had 6 million players in a leak. While that doesn't mean sales, it does show that 4 was a big release, and so was 5.

16-18 million though, there's also Gears Tactics to account for etc. It all adds up.

We obviously don't believe Gears 5 sold 9-12 million copies for example.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

16-18 million though, there's also Gears Tactics to account for etc. It all adds up.

We obviously don't believe Gears 5 sold 9-12 million copies for example.

No they don't, you are grossly overestimating gears sales int he Xbox One era outside Gears 4 and 5, which were major launches including in sales. The only game that came close to being big was Gears remake which sold over a million copies but seemed to have died off since it was released during the Xbox Ones lwo point.

Gears 4 and 5 take up a major portion of that 40 million sales, how much we don't know, but it's enough that we can safely say that main Gears games still sell. Which was always a question people would not infrequently ask on gaming sites, thinking they weren't and the series is dead.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I loved the first two, but more recently hated Gears 4. Gears 5 was a slog, but it did get good at the end when they dialed shit up. Hive Busters was pretty good, but not a big departure or anything.

I still feel this franchise needs a reboot with fresh ideas and a new look. Everyone looks like a cartoonish version of a jacked up roid head.

 

[fatmarco]

No they don't, you are grossly overestimating gears sales int he Xbox One era outside Gears 4 and 5, which were major launches including in sales. The only game that came close to being big was Gears remake which sold over a million copies but seemed to have died off since it was released during the Xbox Ones lwo point.

Gears 4 and 5 take up a major portion of that 40 million sales, how much we don't know, but it's enough that we can safely say that main Gears games still sell. Which was always a question people would not infrequently ask on gaming sites, thinking they weren't and the series is dead.

Yeah fair enough on that last point, it's obviously not a dead franchise in any event.

 

[Codes 208]

Id happily take a remake of a good gears game (2 and or 3) over another disappointing sequel

 

[adamsapple]

Id happily take a remake of a good gears game (2 and or 3) over another disappointing sequel

I'd rather a new game. Gears 2, 3 are already playable in a pseudo remastered state on current hardware, they really don't need remakes at all.

 

[Codes 208]

I'd rather a new game. Gears 2, 3 are already playable in a pseudo remastered state on current hardware, they really don't need remakes at all.

Not on PC they arent. Not to mention a new remake/remaster would do wonders in reviving the multiplayer community in the same way MCC did for halo (after they fixed that mess i mean)

 

[vodka-bull]

When Gears became open world I gave up on this series.

 

[DenchDeckard]

When Gears became open world I gave up on this series.

Like two below average sections in an entire game?.....and the last game to boot.

 

[Big Baller]

 

[The_Mike]

Gears of War Judgement remaster/remake over Gears 6 please.

Im playing through the series from 1 to gears 4 (still playing gears 4), and imo judgment is the weakest title by far.

It was so boring and dissapointing coming from the third.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Imagine how much they will sell if each xbox console comes bundarued with one of these.

Xbox is late to the party by about a generation.

 

[Calverz]

Ezekiel_
You were a bit slow coming into this thread. Now nobody will see your laughing emoji face on the op. Oh wait! You didn’t put one as it wouldn’t display.

 

[JerryinSoCal]

http://[URL][URL]https://thegamespo...ar-franchise-has-over-40-million-copies-sold/

[/URL][/URL]


Based on sales data of prior games, almost half of that number, 16-18 million, would have had to of come from Gears of War 4 and 5, the latest two games.

So for those who were thinking the franchise was stale and why MS was still continuing the franchise instead of sunsetting it there you go. it's still a money maker and sells copies. Just needs to be managed better to encourage better and longer lasting growth.

With this revelation, Halo, Gears, and Forza were literally holding up most Xbox One sales by themselves, along with Sea of Thieves, Killer Instinct and Titanfall 1 as support.

Gears 4 debuted at number 3 on the NPD chart and then fell out of the top 10 in its second month (top 20 isn't available for that month) gears 5 debuted at number 7 and fell out of the top 20 its second month so there is no way they sold 16-18 million copies combined.

 

[JerryinSoCal]

Imagine how much they will sell if each xbox console comes bundarued with one of these.

Xbox is late to the party by about a generation.

NPD doesn't count bundled software, I think the UK tracker does but in the US bundled games aren't counted.

 

[JerryinSoCal]

Don’t know about you guys but I really enjoyed Gears 5.

Need a little bit of a shakeup for Gears 6 though

I hated it, the main character was boring as hell. Shaking it doesn't just mean putting a female skin and keeping the exact same everything else. They need to speed up the gameplay, open it up a bit more and rely less on being a cover shooter. They need to take a real risk with it, more vehicles, bigger areas etc.

 

[01011001]

I hated it, the main character was boring as hell. Shaking it doesn't just mean putting a female skin and keeping the exact same everything else. They need to speed up the gameplay, open it up a bit more and rely less on being a cover shooter. They need to take a real risk with it, more vehicles, bigger areas etc.

I barely used cover in Gears 5 ("Experienced" difficulty setting), it already is deemphasizing the cover mechanic. adding offensive moves to the cover mechanic also helped.

but I agree that they need to do more in Gears 6.

 

[kuncol02]

Gears Pop is free to play.

WAS. It didn't survive 2 years.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

NPD doesn't count bundled software, I think the UK tracker does but in the US bundled games aren't counted.

Unofficial bundles are counted everywhere. This is done on retailer level.

Only if a game is pre installed or digital code is given from factory, it doesn't get counted.

And these 40 million figure is from publisher who counts them.

 

[Shut0wen]

Huge fan of gears, sumit about the series imo has the best lore in any series, even the comics are good reads, though gears 4 and 5 are ok games id give them credit for continuing the series in an organic way then what 343 did with halo 4 and 5

 

[Mattyp]

Unofficial bundles are counted everywhere. This is done on retailer level.

Only if a game is pre installed or digital code is given from factory, it doesn't get counted.

And these 40 million figure is from publisher who counts them.

Can we get the sources for all of that.