---
title: 'Not Again'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=00hw57ZJQk4'
video_id: '00hw57ZJQk4'
date: 2026-06-14
duration_sec: 614
---

# Not Again

> Source: [Not Again](https://youtube.com/watch?v=00hw57ZJQk4)

## Summary

The video discusses a report that Gears of War E-Day has a development budget of $400 million, which the creator argues is unsustainable and likely to lead to financial failure, especially given the franchise's declining relevance and Xbox's market position.

### Key Points

- **Budget Report** [0:41] — Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson reported that Gears of War E-Day's budget is upwards of $400 million, though not confirmed.
- **Comparison to Spider-Man 2** [1:35] — Marvel's Spider-Man 2 had a $300 million budget and needed 7.2 million full-price sales to break even.
- **Gears of War 2 Sales** [1:47] — The best-selling Gears game, Gears of War 2, sold 6.75 million copies, which would not recoup a $400 million budget.
- **Game Pass Impact** [2:32] — The game will be on Game Pass, reducing full-price sales and further hindering profitability.
- **Historical Precedent** [3:17] — High budgets like Halo Infinite and Concord led to poor outcomes, making this a recipe for disaster.
- **Positive Impressions** [4:52] — The trailer and gameplay shown were promising, with a return to the gritty, chunky feel of the original games.
- **Exclusivity Issue** [6:49] — As an Xbox exclusive, the game cuts off the PlayStation market, and Xbox's low install base makes recouping the budget nearly impossible.
- **Budget Clarification** [8:52] — The $400 million may include long-term Unreal Engine 5 tool development, potentially lowering the actual game budget to $250-300 million, still very high.

### Conclusion

The creator is disappointed by the reported budget, believing it sets the game up for failure regardless of quality, and hopes the game can still succeed despite the odds.

## Transcript

Why? Why? It's just h ah
it's happening again. a game that I've
really been sitting here fingers crossed
with a rabbit's foot shoved in my ass
that you know fourleaf clover making
wishes on shooting stars hoping and
praying that is going to actually be
good and revitalized one of the
revitalize one of the most important
franchises in my life has now just had a
piece of information drop like a bomb
here and has just it's made me sick to
my stomach it's it's oh it's Oh. Oh,
fart. No poop, bro. Gears of War Eday
reportedly costs a staggering 400
million to develop. 400 million clams
banished to the Shadow Realm for the
upcoming Gears of War game. Now, the
source of this information comes from
Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson, who
stated, "Gears of War Eday's budget is
insane. I've heard upwards of 400
million." So, maybe this is a game of
telephone, and it's completely
incorrect. It's not actually that much.
You know, this isn't like concrete
definitive proof that it is north of 400
million or around 400 million dloons or
anything like that because I mean we
don't know for sure like we don't have
access to the balance sheet. If we did
maybe they have a hundred million put
into Neidos or something for the team to
enjoy at their desks. Like who's who
really [ __ ] knows? But from what I
know Tom Henderson has a pretty solid
reputation for this kind of reporting.
So there is a chance that that is
correct. And if it is, there's a nice
comparison this article gives about
Marvel Spider-Man 2, which had a budget
of 300 million, which means it needed
7.2 million copies at full price to just
break even. And for comparison, Gears of
War 2, the bestselling entry, sold 6.75
million. And I actually went to the
Gears of War 2 midnight release. That
was a huge moment. Gears of War at that
time was a cultural phenomenon. people
even outside of the gaming space were
talking about Gears War. It was always
Gears of War and Halo and then
eventually with Call of Duty 4, Call of
Duty 4 coming into the fold. But the
point is at its heyday of relevancy and
you know being a part of the mainstream
gaming consciousness, it sold 6.75
million which would not recoup its
budget. And that's at full price. it
wouldn't recoup its budget with eBay
going to Game Pass.
That's that's not that's not going to be
full price. Like, and I also don't see
it like eclipsing these numbers of Gears
War II. People aren't like salivating
and, you know, you know, scratching at
themselves ferociously waiting for a new
Gears entry. Most people forgot it ever
existed. Most people don't care. So, it
just seems like it's already curtains.
If this budget is accurate,
this is just it's unacceptable. Why are
these games budgets so incredibly
bloated? I I refuse to believe it. Like
a like a growth spurt in my 30s. I shant
in such heresy. Why is it almost half a
billion dollars? There's This has never
been a good thing. Like this has
literally never been a good thing. Halo
Infinite budget got up like half a
billion dollars or whatever and and it's
like look what happened there, right?
This has never been a good thing.
Concord, for example, Lord have mercy on
us. Forgive us for our sins. This has
always just been a recipe for disaster.
This is just it feels doomed to fail no
matter what. Even if it comes out and
it's a ballistic turbo banger, it's not
going to make that back. Like it's like
I don't see a world where it possibly
could when it's an Xbox exclusive. it's
going to be on Game Pass. Like, how does
it even have a chance at recouping that?
So, it's once again just going to bury
the Gears franchise even deeper into the
dirt where it's already like a forgotten
relic of the past that people don't even
think about anymore. Like, it's just oh,
it's painful. Why is it so much? It's
just the only game that has a budget
like this. Well, more than this that
probably will be able to make it back
and then some with some gravy on top is
Grand Theft Auto 6. But Gears of War
Eday is not Grand Theft Auto 6. Gears of
War Eday has about as much a chance at
competing with the success of GTA 6 as
[ __ ] the Killer Bean game does. And
Killer Bean was developed by one man in
a cave with a box of scraps like Tony
Stark. And it's very fun game by the
way. It's got a lot of problems, but I
have been enjoying it. Point is, there
is no world where Gears of War Eday
should have a budget like this. It just
feels completely [ __ ] from the
start, and it hasn't even begun really.
And the thing is, I actually was
pleasantly surprised by the trailer and
the gameplay they showed. Like, yeah,
Marcus Phoenix looks a little odd in
civilian clothing. It's weird seeing him
not oiled up, bulked up, [ __ ]
creatine, testosterone, and oxytocin
[ __ ] flowing from every pore in his
body.
>> But the gameplay looks fun. It looks
solid. It feels like a return to form in
terms of grittiness like the original
had captured. So yeah, like aside from
people pointing out that, you know,
Marcus looks like he's on Osimpic, I
think most people are pleasantly
surprised to see gears look like this.
One of the big problems I have about
Modern Gears games is how weightless it
feels and how there's no punch to it
anymore. What they showed throughout all
the gameplay in this demonstration as
well as like the further stuff they
showed makes me feel like it's back to
that really chunky feel. Whereas like
the more modern Gears games felt more
cartoonish where I couldn't even tell
when I killed something cuz they just
instantly blow up into like this balloon
of meat. here. It just it it to me it is
feeling like the original did. But it's
also very possible that I'm just really
nostalgic now and I just desperately
want a good Gears game cuz Gears has
been in the gutter for so so long and
the last one that came out was
not good. I really want the game to be
good and from what I've seen so far, it
at least doesn't look bad. So, we're
going in the right direction compared to
the previous Gears games at least. But
with this budget, it feels like even if
it's amazing, it won't matter because I
don't see a world where it could
possibly
make money or be like a justifiable
investment with that figure. Now, again,
it's not like confirmed that that's
accurate or anything. And as pointed out
by Henderson as well, let's be honest,
it probably wasn't going to make money
even if it was on PlayStation. But it's
definitely not going like who's buying
an Xbox and Game Pass for Gears. No one
in my opinion and there's no Xboxes to
buy anywhere because they can't make
anymore.
I I mean it's hard to like strongly
disagree there. Even if it was going to
PlayStation like originally it was about
you know we had this brief golden moment
where it was looking like exclusivity
was going to be a thing of the past
where you can play the games that you
want to play on your preferred console
or on PC. Like exclusivity was starting
to dwindle a little bit but now it's
back in full swing. So now this isn't
going to be hitting PlayStation, which
means it's cutting off another entire
market market that it's going like I
think it's desperately going to need to
grasp onto those honkers and not let go.
Like please think of Gears. Look at
Gears. Here's an option, a new a new
game. Check it out. But now that it's
exclusive to Xbox and Xbox is already
far and away the least popular console
out there. It's like Ouya in 2026. Like
people are not flocking to Xbox. It has
been in a bad spot. Something I've
talked about a lot. It's sad, but that's
just the reality of it. Phil Spencer
also wasn't shy about mentioning that
every opportunity he got about how they
lost the console wars. I do think under
Asha now they're at least trying to
steer the ship in a better direction and
fix certain things, but it's still not
saved. And I don't think that Xbox is in
a strong enough place where somehow it's
going to make Gears successful and every
single even if every single person on
the planet that owned an Xbox also
bought Gears of War Eday at full price,
it probably still wouldn't make back
that budget. I don't know if there's
enough people on Earth with an Xbox to
do so. Like it's just it feels so
outrageous. Like it already feels like
it's defeated with a budget like that
before it even releases. And I think
he's right. It probably wouldn't have
been saved if it was on PlayStation
either if this budget is correct, but it
would have stood a much better chance
overall. Now, this article from The
Gamer does make a mention that the $400
million budget claim needs to be taken
with a grain of salt cuz it is not
confirmed, and it might not be that
high. It goes on to mention that The
Coalition, who's developing this game,
is Xbox's leading Unreal Engine 5 expert
team and has spent years building tools
and training other studios. So, a
portion of that budget may include the
long-term investment into Unreal Engine
5 from Coalition. So, potentially it's
closer to 250 or 300 million, which is
still extremely high. And the article
does mention that as well. It's it's a
very uphill battle for Gears of War Eday
to be like financially successful, even
if the game is good. the the odds are
already stacked against it, which is not
where you want to be when you're trying
to take the [ __ ] paddles to the chest
of a dead franchise like Gears. Anyway,
I just found that very disappointing.
These type of budgets are not
sustainable, and they never end up
working out. It's It's just the way that
it is. I can only hope that Gears War
Eday blows everyone away, is actually a
great game, and they don't once again
just shut it in the freezer after a
flop. But we'll see. Uh we we will
certainly see. Anyway, that's really
about it. Yeah.