According to Insider Gaming journalist Tom Henderson, the budget for Gears of War: E-Day has already exceeded $400 million, making the upcoming Xbox exclusive one of the most expensive projects in the history of the gaming industry.
Henderson revealed this in the latest episode of the Insider Gaming podcast. According to him, sources told him that the cost of creating the new Gears of War installment is "over $400 million".
The journalist clarified that it remains unknown whether this sum includes marketing expenses, employee bonuses, and other related costs. If it refers solely to development, the final cost of the project after the advertising campaign could be even higher.
According to available information, the story campaign of Gears of War: E-Day will be approximately 14 hours long. With a budget exceeding $400 million, the game will need to sell millions of copies just to break even. If we consider the standard price of $70 per copy, the project needs to sell about 5.7 million units to cover its costs. However, the situation is complicated by the presence of Game Pass subscription, where the game will be available from day one, making traditional sales calculations less indicative.
For comparison, the budget for Gears of War: E-Day is already comparable to or even exceeds the costs of many other major AAA projects:
- Grand Theft Auto V — approximately $265 million (including marketing)
- The Last of Us Part II — approximately $220 million
- Horizon Forbidden West — approximately $212 million
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 — over $300 million
- Cyberpunk 2077 — approximately $316 million including marketing
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War — over $700 million in total costs over the project's entire lifecycle, according to Activision court documents