Microsoft just can’t seem to catch a break, as The Coalition has quietly canceled two unannounced games, according to Giant Bomb reporter and insider Jeff Grubb (via VGC). He says that the studio had been working on these secretive titles in addition to providing support on Halo Infinite and the The Matrix Unreal Engine 5 demo from 2021. One of the projects was a “smaller” game, though no details regarding the second project The Coalition canceled were shared. With two projects shelved behind the scenes, The Coalition is now setting its sights on familiar territory, focusing its efforts more fully on the yet-to-be-announced Gears 6.
“This was all reflected in the layoffs that happened at Microsoft, which did hit The Coalition a little bit,” Grubb explained. “The studio is now going to move on fully to Gears 6. I say now, it has likely moved on to Gears 6, in full, over the course of the last year, but definitely, that will be their next game.”
The last Gears of War title, Gears 5, arrived in 2019 and received substantial standalone DLC in the form of Hivebusters the following year. No mainline Gears content has been released since, but it sounds like we’ve still got some waiting to do before we see what The Coalition is cooking. Meanwhile, the Gears of War saga is set to continue somewhere completely different: Netflix. We learned in November of last year that Microsoft is partnering with the streamer to create a live-action movie and animated series based on the IP. Information on these projects is light, but let’s hope wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista will finally get to live out his dream of being in a Gears movie.
Stay tuned for updates from The Coalition as we wait to learn more about the next direction for the gaming series that started it all.
