Although Gears of War has always been associated with the Xbox brand, the series was developed exclusively by Epic Games. Although the series will eventually carry over to Microsoft’s proprietary portfolio, lead designer Cliff Bleszinski shared his thoughts on the sale.
IGN caught up with Bleszinski in a new episode of Unfiltered to find out how the game director felt when it was announced that Epic Games would sell the franchise to Microsoft in 2014.
“I honestly believe Lee Berry once upon a time [Gameplay Designer, Gears of War 2]I’m Rose Ferguson [Producer, Gears of War] I think Epic didn’t really know what to do with the franchise, “Bleszinski told IGN. He also believes the sale helped Epic fund its future efforts and growth.
“They haven’t shipped a game in a while [Unreal] The machine was working well, but they were growing and probably needed an income even if they didn’t really know what to do with the future of the franchise. “
Bleszinski also says that after the sale he was only contacted by Xbox’s Bill Spencer. “How much I loved Tim and Mark [Rein, VP of Epic Games] We are still in touch, but the only phone call I got was from Phil Spencer when the IP was sold to Microsoft. the correct? He was an elephant. Bell is, as they say, a gentleman and a scholar.
After Microsoft bought the Gears of War franchise from Epic, development of the game was handed over to The Coalition, a group of Xbox game studios in Canada. As part of the alliance, the team developed Gears of War 4 and Gears 5.
Epic Games charted a new path in the postwar years, mainly through the worldwide success Fortnite. Epic continues to develop its next-generation game engine, Unreal Engine 5, which Alliance will accidentally use in its next game.
Bleszinski shared his thoughts on the new games on Unfiltered, saying he doesn’t think the new games have the same “heart” as the original trilogy.
“I’ll say about the last one, at the end of one of the most recent, they made the player choose which character would live and die. And I was like, ‘Hey man, really?” We committed to Dom’s death, we committed. to kill Maria. ”According to Blizinski, the Alliance may have painted itself into a narrative“ corner ”.
To learn more about Blessinski and his new book “Control Freak: My Epic Adventure Making Video Games”, check out IGN Unfiltered.
