The Coalition, the Microsoft-owned studio responsible for Gears of War: E-Day, Gears 4, and Gears 5, has largely navigated the recent widespread layoffs within Xbox. However, with Gears of War: E-Day now released, many employees at The Coalition are reportedly concerned about potential layoffs, which could impact bonuses.
In an interview with the BBC, studio head Mike Crump addressed these concerns without providing specific details about the studio's future. "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," 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."
Gears of War: E-Day has received a generally positive critical reception and has seen strong player engagement, marking the series' best performance on Steam. The Eurogamer review of the campaign suggested that the game demonstrates continued potential for the long-standing franchise.
The question remains whether this success will be sufficient to secure The Coalition's future and encourage further investment from Xbox. The decision to make E-Day an Xbox console exclusive, reportedly made shortly before its summer reveal, potentially limits its market reach and sales figures. "Gears has been an exclusive franchise to Xbox for 20 years now. It's sort of entwined deeply with the brand," Crump noted.
When discussing how the studio defines success, Crump emphasized that while metrics are important, other factors are also considered. "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."
Following the release of Gears 5 in 2019, The Coalition took seven years to develop Gears of War: E-Day. Crump believes that E-Day provides a "great foundation" for subsequent titles and assured that the next game "will not take nearly as long" to develop. The studio has not yet announced any future projects.