Xbox console sales continue to plummet despite the exclusive launch of Gears Of War: E-Day, as games are pulled from the platform in protest.
Earlier this year, Xbox pivoted from its multiplatform strategy to prioritising exclusive games – albeit with a lot of confusing caveats.
The two titles leading this bold new frontier are Gears Of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution, while other Xbox games like Fable and Forza Horizon 6 are still set to come out on Sony’s PlayStation 5. It was a puzzling move that felt like performative pandering over sound business logic, in the same vein as capping up ‘XBOX’.
Now, cold data has revealed that Gears Of War: E-Day’s exclusivity hasn’t helped reverse dwindling Xbox hardware sales one bit.
As reported by The Game Business, UK data from Nielsen IQ shows sales of Xbox Series X/S consoles fell 22% in October. Additionally, according to Circana’s Mat Piscatella, there is no increase in US sales either.
Speaking to the outlet, Piscatella said: ‘All of the new programs they’re putting into place, at least in the sales and engagement data that I look at, I’m not seeing [them] have any positive impact. The disc-to-digital program hasn’t changed their sales of new physical software trend at all.
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‘Saying Gears is going to be exclusive hasn’t made any difference in terms of the hardware trend. In fact, it keeps getting worse.’
He added: ‘[Xbox] took Call Of Duty out of Game Pass on day one. And in the engagement data I’m looking at through our player engagement tracker, basically you lost a ton of engagement on Xbox because it’s no longer on Game Pass, and you got no benefit. It’s really hard to find any signs of positivity or hope on that platform right now.’
Last week, Circana reported that Xbox Series X/S sales in September in the US were down 27% compared to the same period last year.
Just recently, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed Xbox revenue had declined 2% year-on-year in Q1 of the 2027 financial year (ending September 30, 2026). However, she painted this in a positive light, next to a 10% decline a quarter ago. ‘We’re making progress, with a lot more work ahead,’ she noted on X.
Gears Of War: E-Day was never going to be a massive seller as the franchise is no longer as popular as it once was during the Xbox 360 era. However, even if Xbox knew this, and is merely using it to create good optics, it’s a concerning decision against the backdrop of widespread cuts within the Xbox division. Developer The Coalition was already hit by layoffs in September, and more are expected next month.
Beyond Xbox layoffs and downward console sales, there’s a growing, negative sentiment against the brand for political reasons.
As noted on Bluesky by developer Maddy Thorson, Celeste and Towerfall have been delisted from Xbox in solidarity with the BDS movement. This boycott has been cited as the reason why several other games haven’t been released on the platform, including the critically acclaimed Big Walk.
All of this, combined with the memory crisis, feels like an insurmountable hurdle for the company as we approach the next generation console race. However, we’ll have to see if GTA 6 will help lift Xbox sales to some degree – despite console shortages.
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