The boss of Gears of War: E-Day developer The Coalition has responded to reports that staff at the studio are worried they will lose their jobs amid the ongoing cuts at Xbox, and promised the next Gears game won’t take as long to make.
Earlier this month, Eurogamer reported on serious internal concern that layoffs would hit The Coalition after the release of E-Day. “The mood is certainly ‘let’s not celebrate the game until we’re three months post launch, just in case,’ which is very unusual,” one source told the site. “We’re just expecting the next wave [of layoffs], or being reorganized under Activision or something later this year,” claimed another.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s “reset” of Microsoft’s gaming business has seen nearly 2,000 people cut already this financial year, with more to come. A number of studios have left the business or are in the process of closing down. Microsoft has also reorganized its studios, bringing Halo and Sea of Thieves developer Rare under Call of Duty developer Activision, and Grounded developer Obsidian under Fallout developer Bethesda.
The Coalition has, for the most part, avoided the cuts, although E-Day’s story director was laid off just one week before the game’s early access launch. The BBC put Eurogamer’s report to The Coalition studio head Mike Crump, who danced around the issue in his response.
“What I say to myself, what I say to the team, is we need to focus on the things that we can control,” Crump said.
“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.”
No guarantee, then, that The Coalition will escape the fate suffered by so many at Xbox this summer. But Crump did suggest there are plans for more Gears of War games. He called E-Day a “great foundation” for future games in the series, and said “the next game will not take nearly as long” to make.
As for what the next Gears game is, in June 2024, Microsoft pledged to continue the story of Gears of War and wrap up the cliffhanger posed by Gears 5’s ending, despite creating a prequel first with E-Day. The question is, will The Coalition get the chance to make it?
