By now, most people have probably noticed that the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day looks spectacular. The Canadian studio The Coalition is, alongside the British developer Playground Games (Forza Horizon 6), arguably the absolute best at producing spectacular graphics within Xbox Game Studios, so good, in fact, that Epic Games enlisted their help to deliver the nearly photorealistic Unreal Engine 5 tech demo The Matrix Awakens.
Their latest full self-developed game is 2019's Gears 5, so The Coalition has really had plenty of time to work on Gears of War: E-Day. October 6 is finally launch day, and then we'll take on the role of a young Marcus Fenix and his friends as all hell breaks loose on the planet Sera (read our massive preview here).
But... quality comes at a price. Journalist Tom Henderson is known for his good sources, and in the latest episode of the Insider Gaming podcast, Henderson says that the "Gears of War budget is insane. I've heard upwards of 400 million dollars."
If this is true, it means that Gears of War: E-Day is likely one of the five most expensive games ever to develop, and keep in mind that marketing for it has barely even started yet. Whether it will be able to recoup the costs remains to be seen; Microsoft announced during the Xbox Games Showcase last weekend that it will be released exclusively for PC and Xbox Series S/X, and clarified that it will not be a timed exclusive.
If it turns out to be good enough, however, it should still lead to strong sales regardless, as well as a boost in Game Pass subscriptions.