Alongside the likes of Halo and Forza Motorsport, the Gears of War franchise is one of Microsoft’s most lucrative IPs.
Developed by Epic Games and led by Cliff Bleszinski, the Gears of War franchise made its debut on the Xbox 360 in 2006. The success of Gears of War proved to be very lucrative for the Xbox brand and including the 2015 remaster, the franchise has spawned seven more games on console with the last being Gears Tactics in 2020.
Check out the Gears 5 trailer below!
As for the last mainline numbered entry, that was Gears 5 in 2019. Cliff Bleszinski left Epic Games in 2012, meaning that his last game in the series was Gears of War 3 in 2011. Epic Games would co-develop Gears of War: Judgement in 2013 alongside People Can Fly, but in 2015, The Coalition would be the newly appointed developer of the Xbox flagship series.
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Cliff Bleszinski would later form his own independent development studio Boss Key Productions in 2014 with its debut game being the first-person multiplayer shooter, LawBreakers released in 2017.
Sadly, despite garnering decent review scores which included a 76 rating on Metacritic, LawBreakers was said to have sold poorly and despite eventually going free-to-play in 2018, in that very same year the servers for the shooter were shut down and the doors closed at Boss Key Productions. Bleszinski blamed politics for the failure of LawBreakers.
Since the closure of his studio, Cliff Bleszinski is said to be enjoying his time with theatre as well as writing, when not interacting with fans on social media. However, I think many of us can agree that we would love to see Bleszinski doing what he does best, not only developing video games but also returning to the series he helped create, Gears of War, and it seems that the popular dev is open to that possibility.
“Gears 6 is trending,” tweeted Bleszinski. “Microsoft, you have my number. Maybe I'll find a way to get a**-eating in the Gears franchise.” To which developer at Psyonix studios, Adam Beckwith replied: “Hey, and if we need any linear vehicle levels to fight off the Kryll, Psyonix is available (probably not actually..) to consult. For real though, gimme Gears of War 6.”
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Rumours of a Gears 6 being on the cards have been making the rounds for a while, though we seem to be no closer to knowing when it might happen. It’s pretty much a given that it will arrive at some point, especially as it's been over four years since the last main entry. It’s likely that The Coalition will be in charge of the next Gears game once more, but perhaps Bleszinski might join the team. Hopefully, Microsoft will announce Gears 6 next year. We’ll have our fingers crossed.
As of right now, the entire Gears of War franchise is available via Xbox Game Pass for PC and consoles.
Featured Image Credit: Xbox Game StudiosTopics: Gears Of War, Xbox, PC
