More than 85 Percent of Players Connect to Xbox Live, Driving New Gold Memberships by 50 Percent

 

As “Gears of War” continues to emerge throughout the world ahead of the holiday sales rush, the Xbox 360 juggernaut has sold an impressive 1 million copies world-wide in just its first two weeks of release—elevating the game to the fastest-selling title of 2006 and fastest-selling original Xbox game of all time. 

 

The battle continues to rage on Xbox Live as well, as more than 850,000 unique gamers have engaged in 10 million gameplay sessions while unlocking an impressive 7 million Achievements.  On top of being the #1 title on Xbox Live, “Gears of War” has also driven new members to the network, as paid registrations per day have skyrocketed more than 50 percent since the game’s launch.

 

Propelling its rise to popularity, Gears of War has been crowned the best next generation game of the year by over 45 publications, earning a 95 percent average review score as tracked by www.gamerankings.com.  Critics everywhere overwhelmingly agree and have united to make “Gears of War” one of the best-reviewed games of all time.

 

“From the very beginning, we knew ‘Gears of War’ would be an industry-defining hit,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president at Microsoft Game Studios.  “As we watched both the game and its hype grow, it became obvious that ‘Gears of War’ was the rare title that could live up to such incredible anticipation, and judging from the reaction of critics and fans, it’s done just that.”

 

About Epic Games

Epic Games Inc., based in Raleigh, NC and established in 1991, is a developer of cutting-edge computer and video games. The company is best known as the creator of hit PC 3D action games Unreal and Unreal Tournament, both award-winning blockbuster hits having each sold more than one million copies. Epic is also responsible for the Unreal Engine, which is the underlying technology for a wide range of games including, 2002 Console Game of the Year winner, “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell ™” by Ubi Soft; PC Gamer’s 2000 Game of the Year, “Deus Ex” from Ion Storm/Eidos; “America's Army: Special Forces,” by the United States Army, and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (PC) by Electronic Arts. Additional information can be obtained through Epic's Web site at http://www.epicgames.com/ 

 

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® and Xbox 360™ video game systems, the Windows® operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as “Age of Empires®,” “Flight Simulator” and “Zoo Tycoon®;” Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as the upcoming “Gears of War” and franchises such as “Halo®,” “Fable®,” “Project Gotham Racing®” and “Forza Motorsport™”; and MSN® Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as “Bejeweled” and “Hexic®.”