It’s only been a few days, but Xbox Game Studios and The Coalition’s Gears of War: Reloaded has already reached a new milestone of over 1 million players.
The official Gears of War account on X (Twitter) shared the news on Friday.
“Ending the console war, one grub at a time,” the post says. “Thank you for 1 million players.”
Gears of War: Reloaded launched on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (via Steam and Xbox PC), and (in a series first) PlayStation 5.
Now, naturally, there are some caveats, and this does not mean the game has sold a million copies. As an Xbox first-party title, it’s included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Additionally, Xbox players who bought the digital version of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition before Reloaded was announced received a free copy of the new remaster.
It would be fascinating to get some kind of comprehensive breakdown of where all the players are from and how they’re playing, but I’m well aware that type of information won’t be shared.
I’d also be remiss not to note that Gears of War: Reloaded launched on the same day as the Xbox Series X|S versions of Helldivers 2, marking the first PlayStation-published game to arrive on Xbox.
Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if most Xbox players are opting to check that out before returning to Gears, but I could be wrong.
If you haven’t checked out this second remaster of the original Gears of War just yet, be sure to read my Gears of War: Reloaded review, where I wrote that “If you’ve never played Gears of War before, this is your opportunity to go through one of the most important third-person shooters in gaming history. If you have played it before, it’s still the definitive edition of a landmark release that’s easier to play across platforms, and it’s probably worth a co-op run or two, but you’ll be fine waiting as well.”
Where will Gears of War go from here?
I’m extremely curious to see where Gears of War is headed, not just next year, but beyond. Gears of War: E-Day, which is slated to launch in 2026, is officially coming to Xbox and PC, but it seems extremely clear that it’ll also come to PlayStation 5. This prequel is set during the titular Emergence Day, and once again stars Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago.
Whether or not the port happens simultaneously with the other versions is a different question. Still, despite my excitement for E-Day, I’m actually more curious to see what happens beyond that.
It seems only fitting that Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3 should also get the “Reloaded” remaster treatment in order to continue expanding the series. Unlike the first Gears of War, these games have never even been brought to PC.
With that said, Gears of War: Reloaded benefited greatly from having Gears of War: Ultimate Edition as a base to work from and expand upon. To remaster Gears of War 2 and 3 will be more work, no matter what approach Xbox and The Coalition take.
Personally, I think it would make sense to see Gears of War 2: Reloaded in 2027, with Gears of War 3: Reloaded following in 2028 in order to completely bring the original trilogy to modern platforms, but this is just speculation.
Outside of the games, a Gears of War movie is also underway at Netflix, with director David Leitch (Bullet Train, The Fall Guy) working on the script with Jon Spaihts, who has co-written Prometheus as well as Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two.
Subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and play day one Xbox games whichever way you’d like, on Xbox consoles, PC, or even through the Cloud on a wide range of devices. Going with this tier means you never miss out on anything coming to the service.
