Gears 3 will ‘definitely’ top 6m sales

Gears of War 3 will not have a problem selling 6m units – so says the game’s developer.

Epic Games’ design director Cliff Bleszinski is aiming high with a target of 10m copies, but believes the game will at least match the average sales of previous Gears instalments. They have sold over 12m copies overall.

When asked by Industry Gamers what sales target he has in mind for Gears 3, he said: Definitely over 6m, obviously.

But deep down, just to be perfectly candid and honest, I would die if we hit 10m – that would be phenomenal. But I can only pray and hope. It’s up to the gamers to vote with their wallets.”

When asked about the strong competition including Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3, out after Gears 3, Bleszinski added: Of course it concerns me.

Well, when you have EA throw $100m marketing at it we’re like, ‘Hey Microsoft, pony up some more money.’ With that said, [EA and Activision] are going head-to-head in November, and we have a good month and a half before then.

I’m hoping if we get enough of that installed base of people who are hooked on our system of ribbons and unlockables and achievement points, gamers will be like, ‘Damnit, no, I have to buy either Call of Duty or Battlefield, cause I’m keeping Gears.’ That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Gears of War 3 hits shelves on Xbox 360 on September 20th. It will be published by Microsoft.