Microsoft plans to reignite interest in Gears of War with Gears of War: E-Day, a prequel co-developed by series’ stewards The Coalition and People Can Fly. Both of these studios have had a hand in the Gears of War saga as support studios, with People Can Fly porting the first entry to Windows in 2007, and The Coalition remastering Gears of War in 2015, just to name two examples. Gears of War: E-Day could be a meaningful culmination of these studios’ years of experience.
During the early years of Gears of War, both The Coalition and People Can Fly took something of a back seat to Epic Games, which led development on the original trilogy as well as Gears of War: Judgment. Starting with Gears 4, The Coalition became the de facto “leader” of the IP, working alongside other support studios like Sumo Digital and Splash Damage for Gears of War Reloaded and Gears Tactics, but People Can Fly is arguably the more impressive developer overall. Indeed, People Can Fly has demonstrated a penchant for creating cult classics, including 2004’s Painkiller and the massively underrated Bulletstorm in 2011 (another Epic Games collaboration). Most significant is People Can Fly’s 2021 looter-shooter Outriders, which is arguably the company’s best release to date. Sadly, it’s also its most tragic.
This is How Much It Cost to Make Gears of War: E-Day
A new report claims to reveal just how much money Gears of War: E-Day developer The Coalition was allotted to create the franchise’s newest game.
Outriders 2 Was Supposed to Happen, But It Never Did
The First Outriders Is an Admirable Game That Never Got the Attention It Deserved
When it first launched in 2021, Outriders was clocked by looter shooter fans as a game with a lot of promise. Its unique science-fantasy premise, satisfying gunplay and player abilities, and genuinely rewarding loot system made it immediately appealing. Looking purely at its moment-to-moment gameplay, Outriders is stronger than anything that People Can Fly has ever released, even edging out more established looter shooters of the time like The Division 2.
One of the game’s most appealing elements is that, despite looter shooter genre conventions and a Destiny-inspired inventory and UI, it never included any battle passes or microtransactions. People Can Fly explicitly stated that Outriders is not a “live service” title in the traditional sense, which made it a much-needed breath of fresh air. Speaking personally, I love the combat mechanics of games like Destiny 2, but can’t really stomach the labyrinth of DLCs and weaponized FOMO that the live-service formula thrives on; having such gameplay strengths without the less palatable aspects of the looter shooter genre should have made Outriders a massive hit, but that’s not really what happened. In fact, the game’s consumer-friendly approach may have actually contributed to the cancelation of its sequel.
Why Outriders 2 Never Came to Fruition
Square Enix, the publisher of Outriders, immediately praised the game for its successful launch. Here’s an excerpt from a 2021 press release by the publisher, specifically celebrating Outriders:
With over 3.5 million unique players, average play times of over 30 hours and extremely high engagement for co-operative play, we and the amazing team at People Can Fly are so excited with this initial success.
3.5 million dedicated players is nothing to scoff at, but it would appear that this momentum quickly diminished. For one thing, Outriders had a number of severe technical issues at launch, and while some players could look past them, many others demonstrated a lower tolerance, swearing off the game before People Can Fly fixed its most egregious problems.
Outriders also failed to turn a profit. This has been attributed to a few factors, such as the aforementioned technical shortcomings and Outriders‘ release on Game Pass, but also to its lack of microtransactions. A successful live-service title like Fortnite or Destiny 2 can be astonishingly profitable through premium cosmetics and battle passes, despite how many gamers are staunchly and vocally opposed to such practices. For better or worse, live service shenanigans can result in theoretically endless money-making, which is what AAA publishers and developers often prize above all else.
When it first launched in 2021, Outriders was clocked by looter shooter fans as a game with a lot of promise.
Regardless of the reasons behind Outriders‘ lack of profit, Square Enix opted not to move ahead with a sequel. This is sad on its own, but it’s outright tragic when you realize that People Can Fly was reportedly almost done with Outriders 2, chipping away at it until its sudden cancelation in June 2025. This cancelation also coincided with mass layoffs at People Can Fly, which is an all-around shame.
Forget About the Past—Outriders 2 Could Soar Given a Second Chance
I can’t say what would make Outriders 2 a greater financial success than its predecessor, but it’s clear that the looter shooter landscape has changed significantly since 2021. When the first Outriders came out, it was going up against a number of better-established titles in its genre space, namely Destiny 2. Now that Destiny 2 is ending support, with no comparable, new game on the way to pick up the thrown gauntlet, there might be room for Outriders to re-emerge, phoenix-style.
No one should be surprised if the next few years are filled with self-proclaimed “Destiny 2 replacements,” but Outriders 2 has an obvious advantage here. Assuming that the reports about Outriders 2’s development progress are accurate, there’s an almost-done Outriders 2 just waiting to be capitalized on. With years of work on Outriders 2 already logged, People Can Fly could realistically get the game out the door in a shorter period of time. At the very least, the studio wouldn’t be starting from scratch.
Would that it were so simple. The most current reports indicate that Square Enix still owns the rights to the Outriders IP, and is therefore in control of its destiny, so to speak. Put another way, Outriders 2‘s fate comes down to the choices of its corporate overlords, not its creative masterminds. But there could still be hope here. After all, it doesn’t look like Square Enix is planning to release Outriders 2, and the publisher has sold a number of IP rights in recent years (e.g. Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Legacy of Kain), so perhaps it would let go of Outriders for the right price. If things go well with Gears of War: E-Day, then maybe Microsoft could cough up the requisite cash and see Outriders 2 to the finish line.
- Released
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October 6, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Publisher(s)
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Xbox Game Studios
