Gears of War sequel, already?

by Justin Murray { Nov 6th 2006 at 5:55PM }

Mike Capps, president of Epic Games, may have let slip plans to make a sequel to Gears of War, Epic's much anticipated holiday shooter. By telling CVG that the ending is unresolved, allowing for a future installment, Epic is hoping to recreate Bungie's controversial "leave them hanging" strategy, seen (or, rather, not seen) in Halo 2. While Gears of War will sell like bottled water in the middle of the Sahara (the pre-orders alone are doing a good job of reaching that goal), the sales may not translate into a sure-fire hit series.

Strong sales tends to indicate consumer acceptance; however, sales may not mean much when it comes to Gears of War. Because Gears will sell well on the back of hype and strong advertising, properly benchmarking consumer acceptance may be a difficult task. If the people who buy Gears of War are not salivating for the next game after the credits roll, a sequel may be a bad move.

Back in August, CliffyB told Joystiq, "I'll never commit or say that a game will have a sequel or series." If the public doesn't go for the chainsaw melee Epic and Microsoft are promoting, starting the sequel could turn out to be a costly mistake.

[via Eurogamer]

Tags: CliffyB, Epic, Gears of War, GearsOfWar

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Tom @ Nov 6th 2006 7:31PM

I have it on good authority that it'll be called "Gears of War: Elite Fighter Squadron Hyper Force Monkey Ninja"

Sloar @ Nov 6th 2006 6:08PM

I heard that EA is going to make the sequel and that you'll have to pay to unlock each level. Oh, and Uwe Boll is already getting his cast together.

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:11PM

lets see some reviews of gears of war 1 first !

Doc @ Nov 6th 2006 6:12PM

I could think of worse things...Like letting EA remake or continue the series or future series I would love to have to use gamerpoints for every bullet i use.

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:12PM

the gears of hype stink.

Judd @ Nov 6th 2006 6:14PM

Duhhh. This should've been under the Captain Obvious column. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/06/captain-obvious-umd-price-drop-brings-huge-sales/

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:13PM

anyone ever wondered why moore never got a gears of war tattoo ???

Lefty @ Nov 6th 2006 6:16PM

daver

your just mad you aint going to be playign this game lol

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:18PM

lefty

i will be playing it as long as i understand the critical consensus as being positive. right now everything is still shrouded under a cloud of embargos.

these things cost too much money to be taking chances on what may be a very unsatisfying game.

FuzzyPickles @ Nov 6th 2006 6:20PM

Wow... how... unsurprising...

jharr @ Nov 6th 2006 6:21PM

Daver

Where did you come from? You are extremely annoying! Why don't you take your whining elsewhere.

Enzo @ Nov 6th 2006 6:20PM

NOVA_CHARGED, where'd you play Gears? I'm hoping to be able to grab my copy tomorrow, but I might need to wait until next week.

Ironhide Delta @ Nov 6th 2006 6:27PM

#7

Holy flurking schnit! You have a copy? You've played it? My god what sort of man from the future are you? Thank you oh mighty future man for telling us what is to unfold! Thank you for showing us the light of which that the Xbox 360 is truely retarded! Thou most holy prophet of idiocy! Thy will be done!

Jesus H Christ. What a load of crap you spew. Seriously, I can have a better argument with what flatulates from my backside. At least it can make a discussion worht while unlike you.

Gears of War @ Nov 6th 2006 6:21PM

You guys are just sad you won't be able to play the game of the year.

Lefty @ Nov 6th 2006 6:21PM

daver

some of us have played it and its worth more than 60 bucks to play it again

Nova charged
you 2 are hating cause it on the ps3. thats all. suck it up. you should be fired up the ps3 launches in a few days not worried bout such a sucky game than

MosquitoControl @ Nov 6th 2006 6:21PM

Nova, I don't know if this game sucks or not, but I know it is better than Killzone.

Just about ANYTHING is better than Killzone. Man, that game was awful. They got everything wrong, right down to grenade throwing.

Well, not everything. That game had the best text input I've ever seen on a keyboardless-console. I wish more companies adopted that.

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:24PM

lets see some reviews of this piece of shit. thats what i say. put the game where their marketing dollars are ! if it aint the best shooter ever microsoft are actually going to be fucked by sony and nintendo. fact.

Lefty @ Nov 6th 2006 6:23PM

daver

9 am tomm. but like i said many of us have played tons of this game. its lived up to the hype for me so far and i am sorry you need others to tell you but here i am. from my mulitplayer experience it blew me away. on that alone i rate it a buy. but 9 am tomm the reviews will be up

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:24PM

gears of war is ms lone shot at the markeet this xmas. screw that viva pinata garbage. let nintendo make the kind games and they can inject some of the charisma they deal out so well into it. honestly if gears of war aint he bees knees .....blah blah blah

kudos to joystiq for adding to the bs hype though ! great blogging.

Deadpool @ Nov 6th 2006 6:24PM

daver
Would any reviews convince you? No offense, but your mind seems to be pretty made up. I agree that the hype machine is pretty out of control on this game, but most of the impressions I have read are that they game is at the very least extremely promising. Lets try and wait till after the reviews start coming out to decide one way or the other.

Lefty @ Nov 6th 2006 6:25PM

daver

and your comments on calling it a peice of shit show your fanboy or blind hate for the game. prior to that statment i pegged you for a skeptical gamer. now we see your true colors.

and way few more hours and it will be in my hands again

reguy @ Nov 6th 2006 6:27PM

@ nova charged

you're a real scholar arent cha?

yeah yeah and killzone is better than halo. whatever makes you feel better kid

god, joystiq really goes to hell when the damn 4th graders get out of school

Lefty @ Nov 6th 2006 6:27PM

daver

thp8
pse6
fifa07
rainbbow six vegas
cod3
and my kids love viva pinata and gives me more reasons to get my daughter her own 360 for x-mas this year. plus she loves cars. but your fanboy hate is startign to soak thru and your starting to look really really foolish

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:33PM

jharr ?
i ve always been here. how are my annoying ? .

Spore @ Nov 6th 2006 6:30PM

OMFG! GOW2 so uber-pwns PS3!

schlong-weed all over joystiq today, eh?

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:36PM

I can understand being called a fanboy when i go and criticise the hype without any real critical literature on the material in question. but in truth i could nt care less what you think. I own the machines i own and am impartial as to who makes what but i find the hype disgusting (without any sort or real merit ) and wonder who is the real guinea pig here !!!

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:37PM

aint no fanboy dude. how can you call me a fanboy ? i criticise the hype because it as yet has no merit and all of a sudden i am a fanboy ?

whats a fanboy ? define it for me.

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:41PM

hey lefty.

get your daughter something else and save ur money. pinata has no charisma. it has no flair. it has no style. do you want your daughter to develop poor gaming taste buds ? hmm ?

daver @ Nov 6th 2006 6:42PM

nice one nova charger.
rein is a retard.

Lefty @ Nov 6th 2006 6:44PM

daver

like i said. some of us have played it. its worht the hype but u won;t liten to us you wnat reviews or whatever from some website. infact who cares. thw game will be out in a matter of hours. i won;t veen be around to show you how it lived up to its hyope casue i will be to busy playing the best game i have ever played. and i played it. my opinion holds more weight than yours cause you have not played it and its pretty clear your mind is made up. once again i have played it you have not. i say it lives up to the hype. theres your review

Kevin at Zogdog @ Nov 6th 2006 9:04PM

I've seen some previews and all I can say is that the graphics aren't enough to satisfy me. They look good and all even with the helmetless characters, but it's something I wont appreciate after a week of playing it. The gameplay also doesn't seem like anything I haven't seen before. They could have added more base to the machine guns for crying-out-loud. At least this will keep us busy for countless years until Halo 3 takes over. Well most of us. I'd rather wait for Metroid on the Wii.

Lefty @ Nov 6th 2006 6:46PM

daver

my daughter loves the show. the same way i got here spngebob. she also beat zelda windwaker and halo. she beat halo on normal at the age of 4. she picks her games she wants and she wants viva pinata. its her gaming tastes not mine nor yours. wake up dude.

Deadpool @ Nov 6th 2006 6:51PM

Lefty
I wont comment on your parenting, you know your daughter well enough to decide if something is right for her...but I do want to say
Wow, she must have serious gaming genes. Halo is not a super hard game on normal, but its pretty impressive that a 4 year old would have that kind of co-ordination

Lefty @ Nov 6th 2006 6:53PM

yeah deadpool

she ahd a controler in her hands befor she could walk. she used to play yoshis island on my old snes when she was like 2. my son is 2 now and we just getting him started. he will get her game cuvbe when she gets her 360 this x-mas

and yes my daughter has played halo on live. she does pretty decent though i spend most my time protecting her so she doesnlt die and giving her the good weapons. she loves the sword

AirIntake @ Nov 6th 2006 6:53PM

From daver "lets see some reviews of this piece of shit"

So to answer your question, this comment is what makes you a fanboy. How can you say a game is a "piece of shit" without having ever played it? Especially when people who have actually played it have said positive things. A non fanboy would say "I'd like to see some reviews of this game before I say it will be a system seller" or something along those lines.

So to sum it up, the definition of being a fanboy, is 'forming an opinion without having played the game'. And by that definition you are most certainly a fanboy. I apologize that the truth may be painful for you to accept.

carg0 @ Nov 6th 2006 6:53PM

I can't see how there won't be a sequel.

From a 1st party standpoint the 360 has not much else other than Halo 3 going for it. Which is something to be concerned about if you're a 360 owner (like myself) who's been wondering how Microsoft's going to turn their fortunes around in Japan. Sure, there's Rare but who do you know that's gonna by a 360 soley because of whatever they got cookin' next? "Gears of War 2: Marcus Phoenix Changes His Stupid F*cking Name" on the other hand will move 360's off the shelf.

So, yea I definately see a sequel for Gears. Whether or not it's done by the same team is another matter.

Mr. Khan @ Nov 6th 2006 6:54PM

I must laugh at the laddies who assume "Game of the Year"
None of y'all ever heard of FFXII, Phantasy Star Universe, or Twilight Princess, eh?

But seriously, this sequel declaration this early in the game is completely pointless, like Sony's discussion of the CELL processor all the way back in friggin 2002, or discussions of Metroid Prime 2 in early 2003

The more hyped up this game gets, the more irritated i get, Give me evidence for gods' sake

Deadpool @ Nov 6th 2006 7:01PM

Nova
You should try and keep things civil. Just because this is the internet, there is no reason to go around calling completely subjective things like someone's opinion retarded.

Iced_Eagle @ Nov 6th 2006 7:03PM

We've known for a while thanks to Cliffy that if Gears does well, that there would be a strong possibility of a sequel...

Things are looking good for GoW2 ;)

Give me Stars or Give me Death! @ Nov 6th 2006 7:14PM

I heard that the title is Too Gears Too War: Tokyo Drift.

Matt @ Nov 6th 2006 7:15PM

nice link to your sony fanboy site, nova fag

as a 360 owner, I also hate the hype. mainly because it sets the game up to be another PDZ-esque disaster, but the hands-on previews so far have been fairly positive so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

as for GOTY choices, I don't think PSU will win due to the learning curve, and I don't think FFXII will win just due to the fact that the FF series is just getting old (at least to me). "That which we call a Final Fantasy by any other name would still be just another JRPG." I'm going to give GOTY to GH2 at the moment, just because it's the only one I've actually played, but I think in the end it'll come down to a battle between GoW, GH2, and Twilight Princess.

HoodOrnament @ Nov 6th 2006 7:18PM

wow guys, watch out, Nova can attack a 4 year old over the internet. Disregard anything that idiot has to say. Even those his genes have been swimming in the same pool for generations (imbred if you cant get the joke) it also appears that someone must have pissed in that pool as well.

Give it two days we will find out how this game is, and Killzone did not bring anything new to the table, it was just another crappy FPS with even worse online play.

Topic at Hand:
I really hope they put together a decent ending to this game. A game hyped this much cannot end on something as shitty as a basic cliffhanger. That will kill this game if it does.

KanoBlade @ Nov 6th 2006 7:19PM

Nova

You shouldn't try to commit yourself to one console, although if you can't afford them all that's understandable, just don't try and degrade any other one.

A wise gamer once said, "we play games, not consoles", so i doubt you'd be trying to degrade Gears of War if it were a ps3 exclusive or even on both.

As for what 4 year old girl likes, do you expect her to be playing hot coffee on san andreas?

When you play a game, don't look at the console first, look at the game and make conclusions, other wise you're a fanboy and i know not everyone can help it.

Don't tell me killswitch was better, i really liked the demo a lot, but then when i got the full game it kind a blew...

And lastly, i do own a 360, and plan to get a wii in january and ps3 around march or near mgs4.

I hope there aren't any errors, like nova.

canebi @ Nov 6th 2006 7:28PM

Well at least Nova_Charged can spell and use Grammar properly.... oh wait... oh no, nevermind...

Nova you may want to get your head checked, I'm pretty sure there's a string of "retardation" in your family. You should get it checked.

Spilt_Milk @ Nov 6th 2006 7:40PM

Hell, I want Viva Pinata. It looks like a great veg out game.

pete @ Nov 6th 2006 7:42PM

lol @ tom.... monkey ninja, yeah lol indeed

Cody S. @ Nov 6th 2006 7:48PM

Nova,

Stop the hating. Chainsaw on a gun is cool, don't even try to deny it. Everyone is talking about this game at school. The kids who don't play alot of games are talking about it. They are pretty intrigued regarding the famous commercial. They all think it looks pretty great. Unless you've tried it yet, it's best that you shut your trap. Get of the internet until your balls drop or until you reach a point where you're able to type a legible sentence.