News recently broke that The Coalition’s studio head, Rod Fergusson, was leaving his position to join Blizzard, where he will oversee the Diablo franchise. Having been involved with the Gears of War franchise since its inception at Epic Games, Fergusson led the series into a new era under a new studio at the beginning of this generation. Losing such a vital member of one of their most important franchises is obviously a blow for Microsoft, but Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty feels The Coalition is well-positioned and stable enough to find a new leader to lead them forward.
Speaking with GamesIndustry, Booty said that The Coalition is “a group of world class talent”, and thanks to its leadership being comprised of veterans, they are ready to “find a new leader for the studio and really shape the future.”
“Going forward, I deeply believe that one of the most valuable and important assets in the games industry are studios that have worked together and have shipped quality AAA games,” said Booty. “Certainly, The Coalition is really a group of world class talent. We are also very fortunate that the leadership team that we have up there consists of a lot of senior veterans. So we’re in a stable situation there, and it gives us the opportunity to go out and find a new leader for the studio and really shape the future.”
Booty also feels that the Gears property has a lot of potential that still remains untapped, and remains confident that The Coalition have enough “raw material” and talent to be able to fulfil that potential.
“I think about our franchises in terms of worlds and characters and stories,” he said. “Those are really important. In terms of fictional, sci-fi universes that are out there, the Gears universe has a lot of potential for us to build on. Both in terms of evolving it, and revolutionising it. I am confident we have the raw material and talent in place in order to move forward.”
Gears fans have something to look forward to in the imminent future, with Gears Tactics launching for PC on April 28. If you’re curious to find out what the future holds for the series, read our interview with Gears 5’s campaign design director Matt Searcy about the game’s biggest changes, and how they set up the future of the franchise.