Cliff Bleszinski: Epic "Didn't Really Know What to Do" with the Gears of War Franchise

The Gears of War franchise is usually associated with Xbox as it is owned and published by Xbox Game Studios, however, the initial creator of the series was Epic Games which developed the original trilogy. In 2014, Microsoft purchased the rights to the Gears of War IP from Epic Games, including rights to all existing at the time games as well as subsequent games that were later developed by the Xbox-owned studio The Coalition.

Cliff Bleszinski, who worked at Epic and served as the lead game designer for the first three Gears of War installments, recently shared his thoughts on why Epic Games decided to sell the rights to the series to Microsoft.

Speaking to IGN, Bleszinski, who left Epic in 2012, two years before the sale, said that probably following his departure along with the departure of Gears of War 2 gameplay designer Lee Perry and the series' producer Rod Ferguson, Epic Games just "didn't really know what to do with the franchise." He also added that the sale contributed to the future growth of the company and its projects.

"They hadn't shipped a game in a while. The [Unreal Engine] was doing rather well, but they were growing and they probably needed the income even though they really didn't know what to do with the future of the franchise," Bleszinski said.

Following the sale, the next two Gears of War parts were developed by The Coalition. Speaking of these newer games, the game designer said that he doesn't feel they have the same "heart" the original trilogy has. Bleszinski was also apparently disappointed with the studio's decision to make the player choose which character would live and which would die.

You can learn more by reading the full interview with Cliff Bleszinski here. Also, don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.