figure: Gears of War Funko Pop: Kait Diaz

Gears of War is a third-person shooter game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2006. Players control the character Marcus Fenix, a soldier of the Delta Squad, which protects the planet Sera from the evil Locust Horde. Players rely heavily on strategic and tactical shooting to progress through the game. Gears of War became the fastest-selling video game of 2006, selling over three million copies in just ten weeks, and was the second-most played game over Xbox Live during 2007. The game's popularity led to several sequels, including Gears of War 2 and 3 (2008, 2011), Gears of War: Judgment (2013), Gears of War 4 (2016), and Gears 5 (2019). The franchise also includes novel and comic book adaptations and a line of action figures.

In 2016, Xbox partnered with Funko to create a line of vinyl Pop figures to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Gears of War franchise. The partnership led to the 2019 release of the mobile real-time strategy game Gears Pop!, the first video game to feature Funko Pop-style characters.