Over two million copies of Gears of War 2 sold on first weekend

12 Nov 2008

With weekend sales topping two million units worldwide, Gears of War 2 is well on its way to becoming one of the biggest releases of this console generation, Microsoft said today.

Over 20,000 retail locations opened their doors at 12:01 am on Friday 7 November, and throngs of eager fans in 20 countries were finally able to get their hands on the Xbox 360 exclusive title.

“We were so excited to launch Gears of War 2 on the same day all around the world, something virtually unheard of in the games business,” said Cliff Bleszinski, design director at Epic Games.

“We wanted our fans, no matter where they live, to have a shared experience on day one, and that’s exactly what’s happened.”

More than 1.5 million people logged onto Gears of War 2 on Xbox LIVE during the weekend, racking up a total of 15 million gameplay hours and helping set a new record for concurrent LIVE players. These players also collectively unlocked more than 19 million Achievements.

Gears of War 2 provides an epic, adrenaline-fuelled rollercoaster ride that expands upon the original game’s themes of loss, hope and survival. The game sees COG heroes Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad fighting to save the last cities on Sera from an engulfing Locust threat, while the mission turns personal for Dominic Santiago as he uncovers clues in the search for his missing wife, Maria.

By John Kennedy

Pictured: gaming action from Gears of War 2

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com