It was the second most played game on the Xbox 360 's online service , Xbox Live , in 2006 - only beaten by Halo 3 . On November 7 , 2006 â '' the day that it was releasedâ '' it became the most popular game on the Xbox Live service , until the release of Halo 3 , overtaking Halo 2 which had held the spot since its launch in November 2004 . Gears was the second most-played game on the Xbox Live service throughout 2007 .