Back in the Xbox 360 days, Gears of War was a textbook bro-shooter, and a very good one at that. Not only were the first few Gears of War games critically-acclaimed, but they sold very well. In fact, alongside Halo, the series was Xbox's biggest system seller. However, since Epic Games and creator Cliff Bleszinski moved on from the series, the franchise has become increasingly less and less bro-shooter-ish. For some this is appealing, for others the series has lost it's identity. That said, personal opinion aside, there's no denying that since The Coalition took over the series, it hasn't had the same level of prominence. Not only is it not selling as well, but the series isn't reviewing nearly as well either. Does this have anything to do with the series getting away from its roots somewhat? No, I don't think so. I just think the market has changed. Also, it's hard to find a team to replace Epic Games, who was, and still is, one of the best in the business.

That said, while interacting with a fan on Twitter, the aforementioned Bleszinksi seemed to suggest that series has become "too woke." Whether this is a negative in Bleszinski's book, isn't quite clear, but the series creator has offered to serve as a consultant on the franchise going forward.

Careful now, dont wanna make gears too "woke"

— Ordingandr (@Ordingandr96) February 6, 2020

They kinda already did if you didn't notice.

— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) February 6, 2020

Now, for context, this comes on the back of Bleszinski saying that he believes one of the reasons his latest game (Lawbreakers) failed is because of similar reasons.

"Ever since the studio closed I've been wracking my brain what I could have done differently," wrote Bleszinski on Instagram. "Pivot HARD when the juggernaut of Overwatch was announced. Been less nice with my design ideas and more of a dictator with them. One big epiphany I had was that I pushed my own personal political beliefs in a world that was increasingly divided."

The Gears of War creator continued:

"Instead of the story being 'this game looks neat' it became 'this is the game with the 'woke bro' trying to push his hackey politics on us with gender neutral bathrooms.' Instead of 'these characters seem fun' it was 'this is the studio with the CEO who refuses to make his female characters sexier.' Instead of 'who am I going to choose' it became 'white dude shoehorns diversity in his game and then smells his own smug farts in interviews' instead of just letting the product ... speak for itself. It's okay to be political when your company or studio is established for great product FIRST. But we were unproven and I regret doing it."

At the moment of publishing, a new entry in the Gears of War series has not been announced.

Posted: Feb 09, 2020 6:16 pm
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/2020/02/07/gears-of-war-xbox-one-pc-cliff-bleszinski-woke/