The Coalition, the Microsoft-owned studio behind Gears of War: E-Day, Gears 4 and Gears 5 has mostly survived the wide-ranging cuts and layoffs initiated by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in her attempt to bring the gaming division back to profitability.
But as Eurogamer reported, now that Gears of War: E-Day has shipped, many within The Coalition fear they’re going to be laid off shortly afterwards, potentially missing out on bonuses.
Now, in an interview with the BBC, studio head Mike Crump was asked about the report and whether cuts are planned for the Canadian studio. Crump didn’t offer specifics about the future of the studio, however.
“What I say to myself, what I say to the team, is we just we need to focus on the things that we can control,” said Crump. “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.”
E-Day has been fairly well-received by critics and embraced by players, boasting the series’ best numbers on Steam. In the Eurogamer E-Day campaign review, Dom Peppiatt said the game proves there’s still life left in the aging franchise.
But the big question is whether that is going to be enough to keep The Coalition safe and convince Xbox to invest in a future project. E-Day is an Xbox console exclusive – a decision reportedly hastily made just before the game’s big summer reveal – which limits its audience and sales potential.
“Gears has been an exclusive franchise to Xbox for 20 years now. It’s sort of entwined deeply with the brand,” said Crump.
Asked how the studio measures success, the studio head said that while numbers are important, there’s more that gets taken into account. Said Crump, “We measure things like, are we showcasing the platform? Are we pushing the hardware to its limits? Are we showcasing what the Xbox is capable of?
“Our goal basically is to be the best-looking game on the Xbox and really show the industry what’s possible with our hardware.”
After shipping Gears 5 in 2019, it took The Coalition seven years to develop and release Gears of War: E-Day. To that end, the studio boss believes E-Day makes for a “great foundation” for future sequels, and promises the next game “will not take nearly as long” to develop. The Coalition has not announced any future projects.