Gears 5 dethrones Fortnite as most-played Xbox One game

Gears 5 is a third-person shooter from The Coalition, the Xbox Game Studios team responsible for the acclaimed Gears of War franchise. It launched in early access last week as an Ultimate Edition, and this week, the Standard Edition became available to everyone else.

For many months, Fortnite has been the most-played game on Xbox One by miles. Titles like NBA 2K20 have come close, but none have been able to surpass the free-to-play juggernaut. However, that changed a few days ago. If you go to the “Most played games” section of the Microsoft Store, you’ll see that Gears 5: Ultimate Edition is at the top. This is quite a feat and is thanks to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which gives players access to the Ultimate Edition if they subscribe to the $15-a-month service.

Given the fact that Fortnite is the most popular game in the world, and a free-to-play title, the sheer number of players needed to dethrone it are probably astronomical. Luckily, Gears 5 was the hit Xbox Game Pass needed to gain more subscribers. Hopefully, they’ll continue to remain subscribers. It’ll be interesting to see how many players have experienced the game when Microsoft reveals launch figures on Friday or next week.

Related: Gears 5 known bugs and launch issues

In Windows Central’s review, Jez Corden wrote, “as a benchmark for visual excellence balanced against stellar performance, Gears 5 is technical wizardry. It also bridges platforms and storefronts… complete with… cross-play. The fact that Gears 5 manages to jam a… 12 to 18-hour campaign, several multiplayer modes, a map editor, and the promise of post-launch support represents one of the best deals in gaming right now. It’s an even better value when you factor in Xbox Game Pass.”

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