New Gears of War Maps This Week

Plus Microsoft reveals sales have surpassed 2.7 million since November.

The gruff marines in Epic's Gears of War for the Xbox 360 don't look too friendly but that's not quieting interest in the game, which is closing in on triple-platinum status.

More than 2.7 million people bought Gears of War in the eight weeks since it launched, Robbie Back said during Microsoft's keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Those impressive sales are boosting confidence at company, which Bach says is starting to think of Gears of War the way it does about its other big series:

"That title is now a Halo-like franchise that continues to drive hardware in a very positive way, and we think it's an evergreen property that we're going to be able to leverage for a long time."

Don't take that enthusiasm as actual confirmation of a sequel, though. Everyone from Bach to Epic lead designer Cliff Bleszinski has made sure to avoid pulling that particular trigger. Still, gamers clearly want more.

The millions of people swarming stores for Gears of War have given Live a boost too. Microsoft's online service now has 5 million subscribers, Bach said.

The task for developer Epic is to keep that relationship going, and to do that the company is preparing two new maps, due later this week.

The first, Raven Down, is set around a downed helicopter, while Old Bones takes place at Capitaline Museums in Sera. If you want to hear more about the maps from the creator himself, you'll be able to download a video introduction starring Bleszinski.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo