Microsoft files Gears of War trademark registration… but not for remastered collection

Microsoft filed an application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a Gears of War trademark registration Tuesday last week. This made a buzz among fans hoping for a new video game or a remastered collection. Unfortunately, the trademark application is for something else.

“Gears of War trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of tabletop games; board games; card games; trading card games; arcade games,” reads the application, 

This means the application has nothing to do with the rumors of a new game in the series, which is probably a huge heartbreak for those still anticipating other games. Proving it, aside from the categories mentioned, are the trademark classes mentioned, such as “Games, Toys and Sporting Good.” As such, we should expect some pieces of Gears of War merchandise from Microsoft instead of a new digital product. And it is not surprising at all, given that Microsoft continues to expand its merchandise offerings to the public. And with Gears being one of the most popular and best-selling franchises out there, investing in such products would probably be a good idea. Fans are also expressing support despite learning that the application would result in physical products instead of remasters or additional games like Gears 6.

In case this plan Microsoft happens, the collection of merchandise will follow the first ones created by other companies. During the early years of the series, collectibles manufacturer NECA partnered with Epic Games to release the action figures of the game’s characters. Full-scale armor and weapon replicas were also produced at that time in 2008. Now, Microsoft wants to put these Gears characters in products that could be more useful and playable by people, though there are still no more details of how these boards and cards could be played.

The first Gears of War game in the series is the only one that currently has a remastered edition called Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. Nonetheless, despite the trademark registration failing fans’ expectations, many are still waiting for new editions or a new game in the series, especially now that Microsoft is training different Xbox studios in using Unreal Engine 5.