Gears of War 4 Could Have Been an FPS
The original trilogy co-creator has shared that he planned to shift to first-person gameplay with the fourth installment before the IP was sold to Microsoft.
The co-creator of the Gears of War series, Cliff Bleszinski, has revealed that Gears of War 4 was originally intended to be a first-person shooter – something that differed significantly from the version Microsoft ultimately approved for development.
The Gears of War franchise is widely recognized for its third-person gameplay mechanics. However, before selling the intellectual property to Microsoft, Epic Games had its own ideas for Gears of War 4, including a significant transition to first-person gameplay. In 2012, the game's executive producer, Rod Fergusson, acknowledged this fact but did not elaborate on the specifics of Epic's concepts.
And now, during the recent XboxEra podcast, Cliff Bleszinski, the designer of the first three games in the series, has shed some light on his plans for the series' future prior to the IP's acquisition by Microsoft, including a desire to switch from third-person to first-person gameplay.
Answering a viewer's question about Epic's initial plans for Gears of War 4, Bleszinski replied: "I can tell you I wanted to actually consider going first-person with it."
"I mean, can you imagine chainsawing a Locust in first person?" he added.
According to Blesinski, this idea was abandoned after Microsoft acquired the franchise in 2014 and founded The Coalition, which oversaw subsequent releases in the series. The management apparently believed that it would be better for Gears of War to adhere to its typical formula.
In that same interview, Bleszinski also shared that Xbox boss Phil Spencer expressed a desire for Gears of War to incorporate more horror aspects after Microsoft purchased the IP.
After obtaining the intellectual property in 2014, Microsoft launched two Gears games. Currently, The Coalition is recruiting staff for the next Gears installment.
You can watch the full interview with Cliff Bleszinski here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform, our Reddit page, and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
