Gears of War Almost Didn't Have Multiplayer

For many, Gears of War's signature multiplayer is inseparable from the series' popular campaigns. However, in an interview with IGN, creator Cliff Bleszinski revealed that the multiplayer almost didn't make the cut in the original Gears of War.

"It was just like we always say even with the current game we're building, 'We're bulding a freeway while the car's going 9000 miles an hour on fire,'" Bleszinski said. "We were under intense pressure from Microsoft to get this game out for holiday, doing the E3 demos and all that, and they didn't really think the cover-based gameplay would be any fun."

Bleszinski also talked about bring the multiplayer to life. He mentioned that they made a lot of maps that "felt a lot like Counter-Strike" and how he originally wanted to make it so you bought weapons in between rounds. Producer Rod Fergusson, who's now the head on Gears of War 4, suggested that because of balance issues and the extra UI work, they instead put the stronger, power weapons throughout the map--something that would also encourage players to step away from cover and move around the map.

Bleszinski also discussed his favourite Gears of War game, which might surprise some.

"People are like, 'Gears 1 was the best!' I personally think Gears 3 was," he said. "That's when we really honed things and had dedicated serves and everything. We had multiple game types, different characters, women in battle ...it was cool."

You can check out the full interview over on IGN.

Gears of War 4 releases later this year, and a multiplayer beta was available to play back in April. You can check out our coverage of the upcoming Gears of War's multiplayer through the links below:

Gears of War 4 Beta Impressions
Multiplayer Highlights
14 Minutes of Team Deathmatch
Watch a Trailer That Showcases New Multiplayer Modes Here
Gears of War 4 Beta Hits 1.6M Players, Game Expected to be Microsoft's "Biggest" of 2016