What you need to know
- Gears 5 is a third-person shooter from The Coalition.
- The game features a lot of new additions to its campaign and multiplayer.
- The game was played by over three million gamers during early access and launch week.
- You can purchase Xbox Game Pass through Amazon.
Gears 5 is a third-person shooter from The Coalition, the Xbox Game Studios team responsible for the acclaimed Gears of War franchise. It launched in early access a few weeks ago as an Ultimate Edition, and last week, the Standard Edition became available to everyone else. As has become tradition, Microsoft just revealed the launch players for the game. Keep in mind that the title is part of Xbox Game Pass, so the figure includes those who played it through the subscription service and those who bought it.
Microsoft sent out a press release which said that in the first week, which includes the four-day early access period, Gears 5 garnered over three million players. It's unclear how many of them bought the game and how many played it through Xbox Game Pass. You can read an excerpt from the statement below.
Thanks to the incredible support from our fans, Gears 5 kicked off the... season strong – attracting over three million players in its opening weekend and setting new records for Xbox Game Pass with the biggest launch week of any Xbox Game Studios title this generation. The performance easily doubled the first week's debut of Gears of War 4 and made Gears 5 the most-played Xbox Game Studios title in its first week since 2012's Halo 4. First-week performance includes the four-day early access period... which was exclusive to Gears 5 Ultimate Edition and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. On the PC, Gears 5 has nearly tripled the performance of its predecessor, becoming the biggest-ever launch for Xbox Game Pass for PC, and Xbox Game Studios' best-ever debut on Steam.
This breakdown would've been even more interesting had the company provided a breakdown of how players accessed the title. Alas, that information may never be revealed as Microsoft moves towards a subscription model.
Related: Gears 5 known bugs and launch issues
In Windows Central's review, Jez Corden wrote, "as a benchmark for visual excellence balanced against stellar performance, Gears 5 is technical wizardry. It also bridges platforms and storefronts... complete with... cross-play. The fact that Gears 5 manages to jam a... 12 to 18-hour campaign, several multiplayer modes, a map editor, and the promise of post-launch support represents one of the best deals in gaming right now. It's an even better value when you factor in Xbox Game Pass."
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Xbox Game Pass gives you access to over 200 games for one monthly fee. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate also adds Xbox Live Gold to the package so you can play online with your friends.
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