Gears POP! reportedly shutting down next year, after less than two years

What you need to know

• Gears POP! was a quirky mobile game mash-up of the gritty Gears universe with Funko's signature figures.
• Today, the news is gently breaking that Gears POP! is intending to shut down next year.
• This is thanks to a smattering of still-faithful users to who are sharing Gears POP!'s farewell message.
• The official closing date is April 26, 2021, which means Gears POP! will never celebrate its second birthday.

Some strange sad news coming out today is that Gears POP!, a wacky mobile game that mashed together the storied and gritty Gears franchise with mobile game mechanics (and microtransactions) with the popular toy figures from Funko, appears to be set to close down sometime next year. The news broke thanks to a handful of players who are still visiting the one-off title, like Twitter user @FinalKaos below.

Gears POP! was a strange game, for sure, and represented another attempt by a large gaming company to try and break into the supremely competitive (and profitable) mobile gaming arena, which Microsoft is still in thanks to titles like Minecraft and Forza Street. Gears POP! players may see this message next time they log into the game:

While there are undoubtedly still players who will be upset by this decision, and Gears POP! is closing down surprisingly quickly, even for a mobile game, the Gears franchise is stronger than ever. With next-gen gaming being heralded by the upcoming Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, Gears 5 embraces the power with a huge update and tons of enhancements, while Gears Tactics will make its debut on consoles as an Xbox Series X and S launch title. Both Gears titles and their next-gen updates will be available through Xbox Game Pass.