Gears of War is making the leap to PlayStation 5 later this month in what is one of the biggest signs that the console wars are over. And while I find the idea of playing Gears on a PlayStation controller strange, franchise creator Cliff “CliffyB” Bleszinski is “thrilled” that something he worked so hard on will soon be available to more players.
In a new interview with Eurogamer, Bleszinski was asked about the upcoming Gears of War: Reloaded, which is a remaster of the original game’s last remaster. This new version with enhanced visuals and improved performance is launching on both Xbox and, for the first time in franchise history, PlayStation via a PS5 port. But while some fans find it all a bit bizarre to chainsaw monsters with the DualSense’s circle button instead of the Xbox gamepad’s B, the original Gears trilogy’s director doesn’t feel the same.
“It doesn’t feel strange,” Bleszinski explained to Eurogamer when asked if he finds the PS5 port weird. “I’m thrilled that more people are going to get to experience a big part of my legacy that I worked so hard on.”
Bleszinski hasn’t worked on the Gears franchise since the launch of 2011’s Gears of War 3 on Xbox 360. And since then, even after Microsoft bought the franchise in 2014 and started making its own third-person cover shooters, fans have continued to ask Bleszinski if he’d ever return to help make another Gears of War game. According to him, he’s asked “nearly every day on social media” about returning.
“And I’m like ‘uh, I’ve said it a thousand times, I’m open to consult on any of it’,” said Bleszinski. But it seems Xbox isn’t interested in bringing him back to consult on a future game in the series, with the Gears creator adding, “Crickets. On to the next!” There is some irony in Xbox ignoring Cliff Bleszinski in 2025, despite making “CliffyB” the rockstar face of the Xbox 360 at the height of the console war between Microsoft’s device and the PS3 back in 2005, and positioning Epic’s then-upcoming game, Gears of War, as the 360’s killer app. Now they won’t even call him to get his input on the franchise.
Gears of War: Reloaded launches on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on August 26. It will be available on day one with Game Pass and will be free to anyone who already owns Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, aka Xbox’s previous remaster of the game.
