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GEARS OF WAR: From Misery to Millions | Development LORE | Cliff Bleszinski | Nick Murphy | LORE

Nick Murphy tells you how an Unreal sequel and Cliff Bleszinski’s divorce birthed the Gears of War franchise.
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Written by Gainesaurus

Voiced by Nick Murphy:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ContinueShow

Animated by MrChambers
https://www.youtube.com/user/MrchambersAnimations/


Transcript:

After the deathmatch-a-palooza that was Unreal Tournament, Epic Games wanted to bring their franchise into the new millennium. Designer Cliff Bleszinski was handed the reins to sequel, Unreal Warfare, which featured soldiers in mechs in an enclosed arena, but after several delays the title was rebuilt in the new Unreal Engine 3.

As the game split from Unreal, Bleszinski also split from his wife in a messy divorce. He dove into depression and therefore games, finding new influences in Resident Evil 4 and Killswitch. His new game needed to be a tactical third-person shooter. Inspired by a recent trip to London, Bleszinski created a new IP about destroyed architectural beauty and a subtle metaphor for his divorced life, reborn dudebro, Marcus Fenix. After a few Eminem-inspired pushups in his hotel room, Bleszinski pitched Gears of War to Microsoft.

Gears of War launched to universal acclaim, becoming Xbox's second billion dollar franchise but three sequels later, Epic faced two dilemmas: The budget for Gears 4 skyrocketed to 100 million dollars and Bleszinski just... kinda stopped coming to work. So after a Bleszinski buyout, Epic happily sold the IP to Microsoft.

Microsoft assigned the Gears franchise to Black Tusk Studios and hired original Gears producer Rod Fergusson as studio head. The studio renamed itself the Coalition with the sole purpose of perpetuating the franchise, which can only mean one thing: They’re sinking more cities with a GIANT WORM!

Have fun!

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