TheGears of Warfranchise is seemingly revving up for a modern resurgence after a five-year-long absence due to the upcoming release ofGears of War: ReloadedandGears of War: E-Day. Both games will have players returning to the early years of theGears of Warfranchise, withReloadedbeing a remaster ofGears of War 1andGears of War: E-Daybringing gamers to the earliest days of the 17-year-long Locust War. WhileReloadedwill soon launch as the firstGearsgame available on PlayStation consoles in August,E-Daymay stand out compared toReloadedand its predecessors in one significant way.E-Daymay be the firstGears of Wargame to cost $80 at its base price.
Xbox’s Recent Price Hike Explained
For practically the entirety of the Ninth Console Generation, Xbox has consistently been the lowest selling platform in terms of hardware, accessories, and physical games compared to the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5. This is despite the digital-only Xbox Series S only costing $300, while the Digital Edition of the PS5 costs $400 and the base Nintendo Switch console costs $300. In contrast, the base Xbox Series X costs $500, while the base PS5 costs $500, the PS5 Pro costs $700, the Nintendo Switch Lite costs $200, and the Nintendo Switch OLED costs $350. According to VGChartz, Microsoft has onlysold approximately 33 million Xbox Series X|S consoles, while Sony has sold 75 million PS5 consoles and Nintendo has sold 150 million Nintendo Switch consoles throughout each consoles’ active market lifespan.
Seemingly in response to these poor hardware sales, inflation, upcoming United States tariffs, as well as the Nintendo Switch 2’s base $450 price and select games costing $80, Xbox announced on May 1st that they will beincreasing the price of Xbox Series X|S consoles, accessories, and first-party games. For example, the base Xbox Series S will now cost $380 instead of $300, while the base Xbox Series X will cost $600 instead of $500. AAA first-party games will begin to cost $80 instead of the traditional $60 or occasional $70 starting in 2025’s holiday season. This means that AAA Xbox-exclusive games and ones developed under Xbox Game Studios such as Playground Games’ upcomingFablewill now have a base price of $80.
No AAA first-party Xbox game has officially been listed with a base $80 price tag yet as of the writing of this article.
How Gears of War: E-Day May be Affected by Xbox Price Hikes
Throughout the history ofGears of Wargames, each title has ranged from $40-$60 at launch, with various exceptions for collector’s editions, limited editions, and limited-edition console bundles.Gears of War: Reloadedwill launch at $40in August, but unless Xbox or The Coalition announces thatGears of War: E-Daywill debut before December, it’s highly likely thatE-Daywill launch with a base $80 price due to The Coalition being a part of Xbox Game Studios. It’s currently unknown ifE-Daywill launch on both Xbox and PlayStation platforms, but the $80 price tag could slow down initial sales as most customers are often hesitant to pay around $100 for a single video game.
ReleasingGears of War: E-Dayon Xbox, PS5, and PC platformssimultaneously could help the game increase sales overall, but the $80 cost could limit the series’ growth if it’s unable to break even or reach Microsoft’s expected sales numbers. The $80 price may additionally increase the cost ofE-Day’s deluxe, limited, collectors, or console editions, with a deluxe edition possibly going for $100, a limited edition going for $120, a collector’s edition for over $200, and a potentialE-Day-themed console going for $700. SinceGears of War 3, each mainlineGearsgame has been released with a themed Xbox console, butE-Daycould be the first to break that trend given the lack of special-themed Xbox Series X|S consoles produced over the consoles' lifespan.
How E-Day’s $80 Price Tag Could Impact Its Multiplayer
With hardware costs expected to increase worldwide following the implementation of tariffs and counter tariffs, Microsoft may force The Coalition to implement more microtransactions intoGears of War: E-Daymultiplayer to better increase profits.Gears of Waris no stranger to cosmetic microtransactions, but The Coalition may be forced to further divide cosmetic options in player skins akin toHaloarmor or restrict certain skins to stores to increase profits. Xbox could further makeGears of War: E-Day’s multiplayerfree-to-play but keep its campaign at $80, similar toHalo Infinite, as a way to ensureE-Dayhas a somewhat stable playerbase at launch and to make microtransaction sales if players hold off on purchasing the campaign.
