Gears of War Leader Hints at Upcoming Game Release While Skirting Layoff Concerns

Xbox is currently undergoing a significant corporate “reset,” which has led to a reshuffling of franchises and teams, alongside ongoing layoffs. Amidst this turmoil, The Coalition has successfully launched Gears of War: E-Day, a well-received prequel to the original trilogy exclusive to Xbox. This has sparked curiosity about the studio’s future direction. Studio head Mike Crump emphasizes that the team is concentrating on what they can control.

In a recent interview, Crump addressed concerns raised by a report indicating that many Coalition developers are anxious about potential layoffs following the release of E-Day. While he refrained from discussing the studio’s immediate plans or any possible cuts, he stressed the importance of creating quality games that resonate with players, assuring that the next Gears installment will have a quicker turnaround.

“What I say to myself, what I say to the team, is we just need to focus on the things that we can control,” Crump stated. “For us that’s about shipping a great game that people are going to love, and I feel like, as a team, we’ve done that.”

Crump described E-Day as a “great foundation” for future Gears titles and mentioned that “the next game will not take nearly as long” to develop.

He also seemed to appeal to Xbox leadership in his comments, highlighting the risk of disrupting the wealth of experience the team has built since taking over Gears of War in 2014.

“We’ve got a great team here. And the leadership team in particular has worked together for upwards of 20 years,” Crump noted. “So there’s definitely a continuity of knowledge and experience.”

While The Coalition has largely avoided the brunt of Xbox’s layoffs, it’s worth noting that the game’s story director and others were let go last month.