Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski says Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer wanted to bring back the horror element into this popular third-person shooter franchise.
Beloved shooter Gears of War is one of the most popular Xbox IPs of all time due to its iconic story and characters but some Xbox fans would argue that the last two instalments ( Gears of War 4 and Gears 5 ) have lost a bit of what made the original trilogy so great in the first place - a gritty setting with horror elements.
And apparently, the first thing Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer said when the company acquired Gears IP is to get back to the horror stuff. That's according to Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, who talked about Gears of War among other things in the latest episode of the XboxEra podcast.
When the podcast hosts hinted that Gears should return to horror elements, Cliffy B responded: "That was Phil Spencer's main note when Microsoft acquired Gears of War IP. When he was talking to Rod Ferguson he said let's get back to the horror stuff."
This was way back in 2014 so you're probably wondering what happened and why Gears of War 4 and Gears 5 didn't have a stronger horror feel. Sadly, we'll probably never get an answer to that question.
It's possible that the concept for the next two games was already done so Microsoft didn't want to change it much but on the other hand, perhaps the team felt they need the next two games to be a bit more distinct from the original trilogy's gritty setting. We'll never know.
Microsoft
There is still hope that the next Gears of War game could go back to its roots with a gritty setting and more horror elements. Such news would certainly be music to the fans' ears given that the visual fidelity thanks to Unreal Engine 5 would be off the charts.
But, until we get to see the next Gears of War game, that's just our wishful thinking and nothing more. The Coalition are currently hard at work on the next Gears, which could be revealed sometime in the near future.
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