Gears sells three million

By Tom Bramwell Published 22 January, 2007

750k map downloads, too.

Like wretches descending out of a ceiling vent on a train, there's no conceivable end or variety to Microsoft's Gears of War press releases - but they're all good news, with this one highlighting the game's three-millionth sale.

Assuming that the company has sold the majority of the 10.4 million consoles it's flogged to retail, that means that nearly a third of Xbox 360 owners have signed up to fight the Locust Horde - an impressive statistic, to say the least.

And a huge number are playing it online, too. The game remains top of the Xbox Live most-played list according to figures released by director of programming Larry Hryb at the weekend, and Microsoft says there have been 1.5 million total downloads of Gears content (including themes and walkthroughs), with 750,000 downloads of the free multiplayer maps Old Bones and Raven Down alone.

What's more, you all voted it your second favourite game of 2006 in our recent reader poll. With sequels enormously likely, expect to hear much more in the future. They're not done fighting, after all.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (57) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • space_ace #1 5 years ago

    way to go

  • Uncle_Fishboy #2 5 years ago

    So, as good as halo then?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #3 5 years ago

    With "only" 10 million 360's around that's quite impressive.

  • octo #4 5 years ago

    I traded my copy in yesterday. It's definitely beautiful to look at and the single player game is entertaining up to a point. The multiplayer leaves me cold.

    * I agree with Emil. It's an impressive sales figure ratio*
    Edited by octo at 22/01/07 @ 09:34

  • L42yB #5 5 years ago

    wow... just shows u how much 360 buyers are into the hype ;)

  • asphaltcowboy #6 5 years ago

    octo, you're obviously playing with the wrong people!

  • Dizzy #7 5 years ago

    Well deserved

  • octo #8 5 years ago

    Quite possibly. Although even playing it with people I know would not alter the "run to a point in the map and kill each other with shotgun rolling rinse and repeat" gameplay. I think personally.

  • lambtron #9 5 years ago

    "Only 3 million? They must be so disappointed!"

    To be honest anything that sells over a million is good going in the world of video games. Only things like the original Marios, Goldeneye and I suspect some PS2 games although I'm not sure which hit the dizzy heights of 10 million units.

  • t8yman #10 5 years ago

    how many copies did H2 shift?

    I agree with octo, single player was great, and has me going back for more quite often, but the MP intersets me not one jot.

    A true deathmatch mode with respawns would have me hooked.

  • miiiguel #11 5 years ago

    Disappointed ?
    Let say each game at 40Eur * 10000000 = 400.000.000 Euros.

    I wouldn't call it a disappointment, but then again I haven't seen where you live nor what you drive...

  • Walshicus #12 5 years ago

    Ah Gears multiplayer; add in a Halo 2 style party system and you've got the finest online experience out there - excluding pr0n of course.

  • The-Bodybuilder #13 5 years ago

    Let the gears bashing begin in

    5



    4



    3



    2



    1

  • The_Programmer #14 5 years ago

    "wow... just shows u how much 360 buyers are into the hype ;) "

    Something you could definately say to future PS3 buyers.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #15 5 years ago

    *miiiguel* it sold 3 million not 10 million lol

  • miiiguel #16 5 years ago

    GamesProgrammer: of course, my bad, it's really a disappointing figure, 120 million euros.

    Gears flopps, after all...
    Edited by miiiguel at 22/01/07 @ 10:34

  • mattigan #17 5 years ago

    Multiplayer was a bit of a downer for me too, Co-op however, was absolutely ACE!!

  • sanctusmortis #18 5 years ago

    wow... just shows u how much 360 buyers are into the hype ;)

    Like all those poor souls who paid money to play Resistance... and who look forwards to Killzone 2.

  • Steroyd #19 5 years ago

    wow... just shows u how much 360 buyers are into the hype ;)

    Nope it just shows how saturated the typical Xbox 360 demograph is.

    Infact the Shooting/Action genre seems to be the only genre i know where you can amount piles of hype on and get it to sell enough to at the bare minimum turn a profit, Killzone jumped on the Halo killer hype bandwagon and sold over a million or 2.

    Where's the love for Viva Pinata, Kameo or Shadow of the Colossus etc.

    /digresses.

  • L42yB #20 5 years ago

    "Where's the love for Viva Pinata, Kameo or Shadow of the Colossus etc."

    Yeh, and those are all better than Gears... tis a pity :'(

  • jonsaan #21 5 years ago

    Hey I agree about Kameo. I thought that was great.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #22 5 years ago

    If it's any consolation I play Viva Pinata regularly while Gears was done after finishing it once. Multiplayer is really fun but ironically only for the first 20 minutes or so. After that it gets really boring and repetitive. And I think it's one of the most imbalanced games too.

    I don't know about the 360 demograph. There is only a very slim chance that someone who owns a 360 is not into this type of game. Because you buy a 360 for FPS (or games that involve some kind of shooting) or racing games, probably a few sports titles, but that's it. So it does not really surprise me all that much that it sold well yet I certainly did not expect 3 million in that short period of time.

  • NthSimulachum #23 5 years ago

    I think the lack of love for Viva Pinata and Kameo is due to a need for many mature(and immature) gamers to justify gaming as a mature pursuit, despite the fact Kameo and Viva Pinata are arguably a lot more sophisticated in terms of gameplay and intelligence required than Gears.

    Also, many are insecure enough in their sexuality to feel that fairies and big papery horses decked out in bright colours are an assault upon them, and feel a lot more comfortable with the delightful homo-erotic subtext between Baird and Cole.

  • Tomo #24 5 years ago

    I. Want.

  • Steroyd #25 5 years ago

    If it's any consolation I play Viva Pinata regularly while Gears was done after finishing it once.

    Yes but a small consolation. ~_~

    How do you think i feel Shadow of the Colossus and from what I've played of Okami are great but not even the 100 million (I'll show those 8 Zero's to emphasis 100,000,000) and they both still bombed, and the demogrpah of the PS2 covered nearly everyone.

    I pray for humanity sometimes.

  • manic_mouse #26 5 years ago

    Why would there be any love for Kameo, a 5/10 game?

  • Steroyd #27 5 years ago

    Killzone was a 5 out of ten game and sold at least a million because of the hype, and don't give me that PS2 userbase shizzle, Okami bombed. :'(

  • too_cool_craig #28 5 years ago

    Sorry, But Killzone sold like the shit it was

    [link url=http://www.vgcharts.org/usacomp.php?name1=Killzone&name2=Halo
    ]http://www.vgcharts.org/usacomp.php?name...[/link]

    364k in NA

    it would only be around 500k WW

  • Vin #29 5 years ago

    Man, I can FEEL the sweaty tears from the pudwhacks who yelled about how Zelda would sell more than Gears on release.

    BOSH.

  • Rambaldi #30 5 years ago

    "wow... just shows u how much 360 buyers are into the hype"

    Comments like that just show you how far people have their fingers in their ears chanting "lalalala good games aren't available on consoles I don't own lalalala"

    It's popular because, shock, it's good.

  • miiiguel #31 5 years ago

    Der_tolle_Emil: "Because you buy a 360 for FPS (or games that involve some kind of shooting) or racing games, probably a few sports titles" (sic.).
    That's old news, 360 has 188 titles covering all genres, from RTS's to flight-simulators, from TPS's to board games, from RPG's to Driving...
    Edited by miiiguel at 22/01/07 @ 12:25

  • Steroyd #32 5 years ago

    @too_cool_craig

    One Bullshit website for another...

    [link url=http://uk.ps2.ign.com/articles/645/645524p1.html
    ]http://uk.ps2.ign.com/articles/645/64552...[/link]

    And another

    [link url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killzone#Reception
    ]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killzone#Re...[/link]

    etc etc.

  • Steroyd #33 5 years ago

    To the "Xbox 360 just has shooters" brigade, I'm *this* close to re-posting my list.....

    You don't want to see the Xbox 360 list of what sells on the Xbox 360 and what doesn't.

  • paulf #34 5 years ago

    8 million copies for h2 according to

    <a href = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best_selling_computer_and_video_games">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best_selling_computer_and_video_games</a>

  • miiiguel #35 5 years ago

    Dead Rising sold over a million and it's not a shooter. UNO sold over million. Oblivion sold over a million. PGR sold over a million.

  • alpha-0ne #36 5 years ago

    the grillbots are rattling their cages, nothing likw other console having success to get em frustrated, oh and i own a ps3 (jap machine on import) but cannot stand most of the grillbots on here

  • Rambaldi #37 5 years ago

    Indeed. What's the big deal? Even IF the 360 is just for shooters and even IF they sell well, this matters why?

    Just because something appeals to the masses doesn't mean it's all bad: sex, food, booze...:)
    Edited by Rambaldi at 22/01/07 @ 13:13

  • Steroyd #38 5 years ago

    rotj

    what type of third party support are the Japanese throwing at the Xbox 360?

  • thinktank #39 5 years ago

    I agree with rambaldi

    demand dictates supply, thus a tonne of shooters.

    I suspect those who denouce shooters as a bad thing are just forum trolls who think its cool to be niche.

    You all still play shooters and you know it, we all do fact.

    Edited by thinktank at 22/01/07 @ 13:37

  • Der_tolle_Emil #40 5 years ago

    I know that there are games besides shooters on the 360. After all I own one. BUT, most people buy the 360 BECAUSE of the shooters/racers. That does not mean that there is nothing besides shooters but it's the main playing field of a 360. Look at the sales figures. FPS and racing games sell best, of course there are exceptions but I bet that far more people bought the 360 for Perfect Dark or PGR3 than for Oblivion.

  • Kiigan #41 5 years ago

    "Nice"

  • JediMasterMalik #42 5 years ago

    Your likely's, are NOT likely, other then NG2, and the vast majority of the others are multiplatform.

    BE GONE MS EMPLYOEE!!

    In all seriousness, well done Epic.

  • jozz #43 5 years ago

    Urgh, the three of you should just be fired into the sun.

  • miiiguel #44 5 years ago

    All in all you're improving, not long ago PS3 fundamentalists kept on saying 360 had but one game, but then it started to get a bit ridicule:
    - 360 is so poor, only decent game is PGR!
    after a month:
    - 360 has but Oblivion!!! ahaha 360 sux!!!
    after two weeks:
    - ooooooH 360's only decent game is GRAW
    after a week:
    - 360 has but Dead Rising!! ahah, lame, lame console!
    after a copule of days:
    - 360 has..., hum..., only, only..., allright... it's just shooters, and well... maybe driving games..., and well a couple of decent adventure ones as well..., and some other ones, that..., maybe...
    Edited by miiiguel at 22/01/07 @ 15:36

  • Steroyd #45 5 years ago

    Whoops meant last year... oh well i missed my chance to prove a point gone. *shrugs*

    rotj you call me a troll i was making an analyis of the situation of the Xbox 360 i wasn't trying to spin 3 million GeoW's as a bad thing (which happens to me everytime) plus your more of a troll with this....)

    Lol @ the denial. You'll EXPLODE when MGS4 and DMC4 are announced for the 360, won't you?! What about when RE5 is announced as a 360 exclusive? The silly season of gaming shows and Big Announcements is only months away lad... LOL!

    Don't know where the f*** you come up with the RE5 business that you keep spouting about.

    Oh noes your going to assplode when NG2 gets announced for the PS3, even though i don't give a shit about the game at all.

    Der_tolle_Emil

    +1

    It's not that the Xbox 360 is a shooter box it's that, that it's the tagged demogrpah with the Xbox 360, so a third party dev like capcom knows for a fact that if they put a new IP like Lost Planet it'll sell regardless.

    It's why Square Enix are making Sylpheed for the Xbox 360 etc.

  • crazyhorse174 #46 5 years ago

    Why is that your not allowed to say anything negative about this game without being flamed?

  • Dr.Mott #47 5 years ago

    I like the line in "Three millionth copy sold" in the article. Do you think the guy who bought it got a special prize or something? :)

  • Azazel #48 5 years ago

    "If anyone here is in marketing or advertising: kill yourself. Ok, back to the show."

  • Rambaldi #49 5 years ago

    @Steroyd

    "a third party dev like capcom knows for a fact that if they put a new IP like Lost Planet it'll sell regardless"

    Oh come on mate: Xbox's shooter status was earned with plenty of stinkers in there amongst the Halos and the Half-Lifes. Lost Planet sold because it was a well-made shooter from a reputable company.

    Anyhoo, what IS your point? That shooters and drivers suck because people buy them? That we all don't quite 'get' what games are about because we're busing saving the world from aliens with our chainguns instead of boucing round silly monsters waving a large sword with a mute girl in tow?

    I'm no fan of RPGs, MORPGs, party games or beat-em ups, but I don't take issue with them selling well!

  • Xerx3s #50 5 years ago

    what type of third party support are the Japanese throwing at the Xbox 360?

    Not really relevant is it? Most people attracted to the xbox where pc gamers. Most of them came because it was a console with pc games. Hence, most couldn't give a toss about some overhyped jrpg.

    Urgh, the three of you should just be fired into the sun.

    You hate Mr. sun, don't you? :(

  • Xerx3s #51 5 years ago

    Anyhoo, what IS your point? That shooters and drivers suck because people buy them? That we all don't quite 'get' what games are about because we're busing saving the world from aliens with our chainguns instead of boucing round silly monsters waving a large sword with a mute girl in tow?

    /coughs
    /points finger to a giant "yes" sign

    What? What did I say? Huh? Nothing!


    ;p

  • admir #52 5 years ago

    epic did a good job with GOW its singel player is too short and mutiplayer it good but not as good as tribes or UT2004. Half Life 2 is still much better game then GOW

  • miiiguel #53 5 years ago

    I can't play on a PC any more. It reminds me of work the fact of beeing in front of an office desk.
    Long live the couch, the big screen, and the tall speakers! Bring the beer!

    /heads to living room, it's play time!/

  • smelly #54 5 years ago

    This game deserves to sell more on the basis of it's advert alone!

    Best advert i've ever seen for a game!

    (still not played it yet though)

  • Rambaldi #55 5 years ago

    "I can't play on a PC any more. It reminds me of work the fact of beeing in front of an office desk. Long live the couch, the big screen, and the tall speakers! Bring the beer!"

    Amen to that brother :)

  • davisorle #56 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • miiiguel #57 5 years ago

    @Steroyd
    ... and, you could play with us!
    GT: miiiguel