With the Gears of War title, Microsoft is finally getting a breath of fresh air, as consequence of the asphyxia it has been suffering from since next generation consoles from Sony and Nintendo have hit the shelves. According to statistics from Microsoft, Gears of war has sold in excess of one million copies in just two weeks. Microsoft unveiled the game on November 7. The one million sold copies of Gears of War make the game the best selling title of 2006 and the fastest-selling Xbox game since the launching of the console.

"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."

The Redmond Company additionally informed that its Xbox Live gaming network has seen the increase of the volume of registrations by more than half per day in concert with the game's market performance. In excess of 850,000 unique gamers have entered over 10 million gameplay sessions via Xbox Live.