Analyst Says Gears of War: E-Day Shouldn’t Have Been Canceled on PS5 After ‘Soft’ Steam Pre-Orders

Gears of War: E-Day will launch in Advanced Access soon, and I’m sure our colleagues at Pure Xbox will notify you as soon as the embargo is lifted.

You won’t find any on Push squareof course, as the PS5 version was infamously canceled earlier this year.

Microsoft made a big deal about the exclusivity of The Coalition-developed console this summer, although an erroneously uploaded trailer confirmed it was previously planned for Sony’s console.

This makes sense, of course, as the Gears of War Reloaded remake felt like an introduction to the franchise when it debuted on PS5 last year. (Even though sales have been weak across all platforms, apparently.)

And now, in response to so-called “soft” pre-orders on Steam, Alinea Analytics’ Rhys Elliot has argued that the game should not have been canceled on PlayStation.

He noted on X (or Twitter):

“In my opinion, they should not have canceled this PlayStation port. It would have added much needed additional revenue, the port would already be in the works, and Gears is no longer necessarily a console seller.”

According to Elliot, the new game has only accumulated 120,000 pre-orders on Steam so far, which is low for a big-budget AAA production like this.

Of course, it’s worth pointing out that Alinea Analytics’ methodology remains a mystery, so it’s unclear how it determines these numbers. Additionally, the Gears of War fanbase is arguably the largest on Xbox Series X|S.

However, given that the title will debut in Xbox Game Passwhich has come under increased scrutiny of late for the viability of its early releases, it’s probably not expected to be a massive full-price seller there either.

Elliot noted in a follow-up message that he was receiving death threats for his reading of the situation. Even if you disagree with their analysis, remember to be constructive and polite in your response.

He pointed out that part of the reason he thinks the game should release on PS5 is due to its online multiplayer focus, which will require a large cross-play audience to remain popular over time.

I think it’s pretty obvious that Gears of War: E-Day would have sold on PlayStation, but with so many other games releasing – like Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered just this week – it would likely face stiff competition and not necessarily be a guaranteed success.

It will be interesting to see how the game performs and if Microsoft decides to relaunch the PS5 version at a later date. I wonder if there will still be interest several months after release?