“Gears of War,” one of the most popular Xbox video game series of all time, is expanding to Netflix.

Netflix is making a feature film adaptation followed by an adult animation series based on the sci-fi shooter franchise, the company announced Monday. The streamer also notes there is “potential for more stories to follow.”

Video game developer The Coalition, who took the reins on “Gears of War” after Microsoft acquired the rights to the series from original creator Epic Games, has partnered with Netflix on the upcoming adaptations.

The first “Gears of War” released exclusively on the Xbox 360 in 2006 and followed a macho team of soldiers called Delta Squad fighting against the Locust Horde, a subterranean alien race that decimates humanity. The main Delta Squad crew consisted of Marcus Fenix, Dominic “Dom” Santiago, Augustus Cole and Damon Baird. They used a variety of heavy-duty firearms, rocket launchers and lancers — which are rifles with chainsaws attached to them — to dispatch the Locust swarms.

Across five main entries and several spinoffs, the “Gears of War” franchise has sold more than 40 million copies, making it one of the most popular Xbox franchises. The games, which also boast co-operative modes that let players take on the Locust Horde with a friend, are credited with revolutionizing the third-person shooter video game genre. The Netflix news comes on the 16th anniversary of the original “Gears of War” game.

There have been multiple attempts throughout the years to bring “Gears of War” to the big screen. New Line Cinema briefly had the rights to a film adaptation in 2007, and then Scott Stuber, now head of original films at Netflix, came on as a producer in 2013 with Epic Games. Universal then hired F. Scott Frazier to write an adaptation in 2018, but no other moves were made. Netflix did not announce any filmmakers attached to its adaptation.

“Every time I do bump into Danny or Alex I always mention it,” Murphy said about the next film. “Because I showed it to my kids recently, some Halloween about four or five years ago, and they loved it. It really stands up, which is amazing for a film that’s 20 years old. So yeah, I love the idea and it’s very appealing to me.”

“[‘28 Months Later’] might come back into focus because one of the things that’s happening in the business at the moment is it has to be a big reason for you to go to the cinema, because there are less and less reasons,” Garland continued. “It’s hard for companies distributing films and for cinema chains to show films, they’re struggling to get people into the cinema unless it’s something like ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ or a Marvel. But a third part would get people in, if it was half-decent.”

“28 Days Later” is widely regarded as one of the best horror movies of the 2010s. Murphy plays a bike courier who awakens from a coma to discover England is in apocalyptic ruin due to a zombie virus. The film made $85 million at the worldwide box office on a production budget of only $8 million. Garland, Murphy and Boyle sat out the 2007 sequel, “28 Weeks Later,” which was directed Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, but the film kept acclaim high for the zombie franchise.

Garland first stirred up buzz for a third “28 Days Later” movie in 2015 when he told IGN, “We’ve just started talking about it seriously. We’ve got an idea. Danny [Boyle] and [producer] Andrew [Macdonald] and I have been having quite serious conversations about it so it is a possibility. It’s complicated. … It’s more likely to be ‘28 Months’ than ‘28 Years.’ 28 months gives you one more place to go.”

Given Murphy is 20 years older now from when the first movie opened in theaters, perhaps “28 Years Later” is the route to take after all.