Gears of War Remaster PS5 Release Gets Cancelled in Major Country

Gears of War: Reloaded is canceling its PS5 version in a pretty major country. The Gears of War franchise is a staple for the Xbox brand and is one of the key pillars of the console next to Halo and Forza. Gears of War was one of the first defining titles for the Xbox 360 as there was no Halo game at launch and Xbox was looking to find another IP that could help highlight the brand. As a result, Halo and Gears of War more or less made Xbox the console for “bro shooters” in the late 2000s and early 2010s, eventually luring in the likes of Call of Duty and Battlefield for timed exclusive content and marketing deals.

With that said, there have been rumblings of Gears of War coming to PlayStation at various points over the years. Epic Games developed a port of Gears of War 3 on PlayStation 3, but it was never officially released. This was a result of Epic trying to work on Unreal Engine 3 for PS3 and it used Gears of War 3 as sort of a test. Ultimately, Gears of War 3 was never officially intended to release on PS3, but it didn’t stop speculation and rumors. Now, Gears of War is actually coming to PlayStation via a new remaster of the original game. However, one country won’t get to enjoy it on PS5.

Gears of War: Reloaded Won’t Release on PS5 in Japan

Xbox has confirmed that Gears of War: Reloaded‘s PS5 port will not release in Japan due to regional ratings and platform policies. However, the remaster will still be playable on Xbox and PC in Japan. It’s unclear exactly what the issue is, but it’s possible that PlayStation is a bit more restrictive with extreme violence and gore in Japan.

“Due to regional rating restrictions and platform policies, Gears of War: Reloaded will not be released for PlayStation 5 in Japan,” reads a post from Xbox. “Domestic players will still be able to play the game on launch day through Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, Game Pass, and Steam. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience caused to players in Japan who have been waiting for the release of this game.”

This comes ahead of Gears of War: Reloaded‘s upcoming multiplayer beta this weekend, which Japanese PS5 players won’t be able to experience. The PlayStation 5 is significantly more popular than Xbox in Japan, simply because PlayStation has done a better job of catering to that audience over the years despite Xbox’s efforts to improve the disparity. As a result, this may really hurt Gears of War’s chances for growth in Japan now. With that said, it’s hard to say if there’s really a major audience for a game like Gears of War in Japan anyways. Either way, Gears of War: Reloaded is still going to be a big release worldwide regardless.

Gears of War: Reloaded will release on August 26th, 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC.