Gears of War Franchise Faces Major YouTube Purge

The Gears of War YouTube channel, which was home to several of the franchise's iconic trailers, old dev streams, and esports archives, has seemingly been wiped clean by The Coalition. This comes just weeks after the studio's massive reveal of Gears of War: E-Day at Xbox's games showcase, which is taking the franchise back to its horror roots with Marcus and Dom at the very beginning of Emergence Day.

Set fourteen years before the original Gears of War, it's clear that developer The Coalition is treating Gears of War: E-Day almost like a franchise reboot, while keeping the current timeline, story, and characters all intact. While the reveal didn't divulge a release date, E-Day is reportedly rumored to be releasing in 2025. Just recently, The Coalition added a message in the franchise's latest installment, Gears 5, reminding players of Gears of War: E-Day, its setting and story, and hyping fans up for the game's release, making it seem like the title really is looking to launch sooner rather than later.

In a strange and surprising move, The Coalition has wiped nearly every video from the Gears of War YouTube channel. The page, donning a Gears of War: E-Day banner, has only two videos still available for visitors to view: a "Gears is Forever" Gears of War fan tattoo supercut from 2020 and, of course, the Gears of War: E-Day reveal trailer that just recently debuted at Xbox's showcase. Gears of War's Twitch channel has been wiped clean as well.

Gears of War YouTube Channel Is Nearly Empty

This move by The Coalition has caused a bit of disappointment with the Gears community, as longtime fans have enjoyed revisiting some of the old videos on the channel, namely some of the early Gears of War trailers, which are celebrated as some of the best game trailers of all time. The original Gears of War trailer is so beloved that The Coalition subtly echoed its use of Mad World by Gary Jules in the E-Day trailer when Dom appeared on-screen. The prevailing theory is that, with Gears of War: E-Day returning to the very beginning, The Coalition is seeking to double down on a fresh start, doing so by wiping out all that came before, at least on its YouTube and Twitch pages.

It's entirely possible that The Coalition has all the videos hidden rather than permanently deleted, and that there's a chance they could be made visible again at some point in the future. For now, fans who wish to revisit old Gears of War trailers, esports events, or developer streams will need to seek them out elsewhere on YouTube. All the franchise's game trailers have surely been re-uploaded by a number of different outlets and sources over the years, but dev streams, esports archives, and other types of videos may be harder to find.