Gears 5 breaks records with 3 million players during opening weekend

News by Emily Gera Contributor

Published on Sept. 16, 2019

Gears 5 has broken records for the biggest launch of any Xbox Game Studios release this generation.

The new Gears title attracted over 3 million players across its opening weekend, Xbox reported today. This is double the first week debut of 2016's Gears of War 4, and makes it the most-played Xbox Game Studios title in its first week since 2012’s Halo 4. On PC, Gears 5 tripled the performance of its predecessor, which also makes it the biggest ever launch for Xbox Game Pass for PC.

Thanks to the incredible support from our fans, #Gears5 kicked off the Holiday season strong – attracting over three million players in its opening weekend and setting new records for @XboxGamePass. https://t.co/kRWMxWBQXV
— Xbox Wire (@XboxWire) September 16, 2019

This confirms what we heard last week from Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad. Ahmad called Gears 5 the first "mega hit" of Xbox Game Pass, noting that it surpassed Forza Horizon 4. "Competitive pricing and recent offers, a large library of games and access to MS 1st party has led to a high number of sign ups," he wrote on Twitter at the time.

Check out VG247's review of Gears 5, which our Simon Miller says is "like welcoming home an old friend only to find they have a new haircut that looks better the more you see of it."

Read this next