A new autobiography written by Cliff Bleszinkski, the primary designer for the first three Gears of War games, has just been published. In his memoir, Control Freak: My Epic Adventure Making Video Games, he details his climb to prominence in the gaming business and his time at Epic Games, where he helped develop the Gears of War and Unreal series.
Spreading the word further, Bleszinkski spoke with IGN about the Gears of War cancellation and why Epic decided to sell the property to Microsoft in 2014. Epic struggled financially at the time, and Xbox was eager to buy successful intellectual properties (IPs). Xbox is still in the process of looking for IPs to acquire. In addition, Bleszinkski left Epic in 2012, resulting in the firm having something of a leadership void to fill.
Bleszinkski told IGN that once he, Rod Ferguson, and Lee Perry left Epic’s Gears of War 2 development team, the developer was at a loss for what to do with the series. It had been quite some time since they had released a new game. Even though they were at a loss as to how to proceed with the Unreal franchise’s further development, the [Unreal] engine was still doing relatively well, but the company was expanding, and it was likely that they needed the cash.
The price was another factor to consider. Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, stated in an interview that the development of Gears of War 4 would have required a budget of one hundred million dollars and that anything less than complete commercial success would have resulted in the company’s closure. Since there was no plan to carry on the business and the owner was unwilling to take the associated risks, selling the franchise was the best option.
