The reported development costs of Gears of War: E-Day may be partly explained by The Coalition’s responsibility for maintaining Microsoft’s custom branch of Unreal Engine, according to former Xbox senior product manager Derek Reese. The game has reportedly cost more than $500 million to produce, although Microsoft has not confirmed that figure.
Writing on Bluesky, Reese explained that The Coalition has been responsible for supporting Microsoft’s Unreal Engine branch while simultaneously developing one of Xbox’s flagship franchises. He suggested that these overlapping responsibilities account for a substantial portion of the studio’s spending.
Reese said he had firsthand experience with the issue, having previously tried to convince Xbox leadership to support a plan that would see other Microsoft studios adopt the same engine branch. Under his proposal, the associated support costs would have been written off rather than remaining a financial burden on The Coalition.
He also pointed to Turn 10 Studios and its proprietary ForzaTech engine as another example of the same problem, suggesting that maintaining an internal technology platform alongside major game development can create similar financial pressures.
Reese currently serves as Design Director at independent developer Chronicler Software. His previous credits include work on Minecraft, Halo, O3DE, Valve Proton, WoW Auth and PAX.
His comments follow reports about the substantial production budget of Gears of War: E-Day. Industry insiders have claimed that development spending exceeded $500 million before marketing expenses, making it an unusually expensive production even by modern AAA standards. However, Xbox Game Studios has not released an official budget.
Separate reports have suggested that the game sold approximately 400,000 copies outside Game Pass around its launch. That figure has also not been independently confirmed, and it does not account for players accessing the game through Microsoft’s subscription service.
Gears of War: E-Day launched on October 6, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S and PC through Steam, with day-one availability on Game Pass. Developed by The Coalition using Unreal Engine 5, the prequel follows Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago during Emergence Day, the event that sets the original trilogy in motion.
