Gears of War 4could have been a first-person shooter, according to the series' original designer who recently revealed his initial vision for the fourth installment in the franchise, describing a radically different game to the one Microsoft ended up greenlighting. This bit of insight into the project arrived not long afterThe Coalition started hiring for a newGears of Wargame.
The Canadian studio was given the reins of the series after Microsoft acquired the IP in 2014. But the franchise itself was created by former Epic Games Design Director Cliff Bleszinski, who also served as the lead designer on the originalGears of Wartrilogy. The industry veteran who’s also known for his work on theUnrealseries ended up taking a career hiatus after Microsoft bought the rights to the franchise anddecided to play it safe withGears of War 4, though he already had concept for the next game by the time Epic games started negotiating a sale.
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Appearing on a recent episode of the XboxEra podcast, Bleszinski revealed that he initially envisionedGears of War 4as an FPS. Elaborating on that idea, the famous designer hinted that he was primarily motivated by the rule of cool, asking the interviewer if he could “imagine chainsawing a Locust in first-person [view].” Given Bleszinski’s contributions to theUnrealfranchise, arguably one of the most iconic FPS series to date, it’s certainly possible thatGears of War 4could have pulled off such a perspective shift. During the same interview, Bleszinski also revealed that Xbox chiefPhil Spencer wantedGears of Warto feature more horror elementsfollowing the Microsoft acquisition.
While Microsoft might not have been eager to stray away from the formula immediately after acquiring the series in 2014, the company did demonstrate a willingness to experiment with the IP some five years into its ownership. It first did so with 2019’sGears POP, an online real-time strategy game for PC and mobile born out of a collaboration with vinyl figurine manufacturer Funko. ItsClash Royale-inspired design received mediocre reviews and was met with a lukewarm response from the fandom, resulting in theGears POPservers shutting downafter just 18 months.
Even once it became apparent thatGears POPwas a commercial failure, The Coalition was not discouraged from continuing to explore spinoff possibilities. In 2020, it released a much more successful experiment in the form ofGears Tactics, a turn-based strategy co-developed with British studio Splash Damage. Given that track record of increasing leniency with the popular IP, aGearsFPS reminiscent of Bleszinski’s original vision forGears of War 4might not be outside the realm of possibility moving forward.
Gears of War 4is available for PC and Xbox One.
