I have yet to play the Hivebusters DLC, but I found the open-world bits in the original campaign to be pretty good. The foundation is there for it to be improved upon further in the next game. The best of both worlds would be having more ‘linear’ bits in those open world areas in some manner.
And I hope the Coalition are able to modernize the gameplay/cover mechanics further more.
As long as the base game is a full game then fine. Hopefully it stays that way and extra dlc are just that, extra and not the second half of the game.
Nothing sounds more boring in Gears than just doing Pendulum Wars and what will be generic human wars in a world where the monsters are the draw.
Its like the most safest and boring project imaginable. At that point its not Gears and just another third person shooter.
I think they should let Gears rest for some time, there have been 9 Gears in 15 years, they should let the series be wanted by fans, I reckon a 2024 release at the earliest, moreover if they are making another smaller game.
They have already dabbled with a space program, so the series has an easy way to shift to new planets and therefore monsters.
Id rather them give Gears a rest than pump out something as generic and safe as Pendulum Wars content. Like The Franchise doesnt need to continue for eternity and giving it a rest to create some “demand” for it is totally fine.
It would be like Halo going and making a spin-off of pre-covenant wars between the colonies. We are good.
Personally, I would like to see The Coalition develop and release Gears 6 to wrap it up. Then expand to two teams. One for a new IP and one for a spin off of Gears. This way, if I don’t end up liking the new IP, I still have Gears.
I dont see why we need to keep on churning Gears to death and I say this as a big fan of the series.
I only want Gears because I know that barring some kind of disaster, it will be day one for me. I will always be game for more Gears especially if it’s like Hivebusters but longer. If their new IP doesn’t hit for me, then they’re basically like a few other studios that simply don’t give me anything so that’s why I want Gears to keep going. With that said, I do want the Scorpio Squad to be the lead characters or new characters with a new storyline, etc. but still be classic Gears.
If it wasn’t clear enough with Gears 5 and Hivebusters they nailed the basics 100% so I think that now it’s the time to innovate, improve things like enemy AI, expand on ideas like weather effects and physics (with a CPU that will allow those) revolutionize the series and at the same time the genre.
I think 6 is going to be like 3 with two separate squads (Delta and Scorpio) that eventually cross paths. Scorpio is too developed not to be in 6’s campaign.
The future for XGS Publishing is pretty exciting. Contraband from Avalanche and As Dusk Falls from INT/NIGHT already announced, plus rumored games from Kojima and IO Interactive. Microsoft can still use Avalanche Studios Group for exclusive content even if an acquisition is off the table. No doubt they will take day 1 game pass and timed console exclusivity for anything Systemic Reaction makes, don’t really care about Expansive Worlds that much but I’m sure they can still work out something for Game Pass and some sort of exclusivity, the main studio obviously being Avalanche though and being the one that would work with Microsoft directly through their publishing wing, would be cool to see something like 2-3 new exclusive IPs from Avalanche Studios over the course of the entire generation through XGS Publishing. INT/NIGHT is a pretty good fit for Game Pass also, if As Dusk Falls take off I could easily see them partnering with Xbox on multiple projects.
No idea what this partnership with Kojima will lead to, hopefully something long term and goes beyond the current rumored game but I wouldn’t be surprised if he went back to Sony afterwards. Sounds like IO Interactive though will be partnering with Xbox for the long haul, if not on multiple games it will at least be through content updates with “Project Dragon” wouldn’t be surprised if we see more IOI and Xbox games in the future beyond that.
Turtle Rock Studios would be a great fit for XGS Publishing, now with Kim Swift as a senior director of cloud gaming maybe they could do something cloud based with a 4-player co-op title. Swift was one of the lead developers on Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 so it would be really cool to see her working with Turtle Rock. Would be really cool to see Moon Studios back under XGS Publishing as well, whether it would be a new IP or a 3rd Ori title. Casey Hudson also announced his new studio “Humanoid Studios” could be an interesting get for Publishing as there is a lot of history there.
Finally finished Sea of Thieves: a Pirate’s Life and I think it’s my GOTY so far (even if it’s not a proper new game). Rare did some incredible work with this crossover. 
I played each time with random people and it had always been a ton of fun working together. I could replay it with different people and the experience would be unique again.
Some bugs aside in Tall Tale 2, I would give it a 9.5/10. That truly was incredible. This game is the ultimate pirate game and such a unique multiplayer experience.
What’s crazy is that it could have easily been a paid expansion sold $20, $30 or $40, whatever, considering its lenght alone. Instead it was completely free.
The Rare I loved has definitely returned in my eyes. Crazy to think that a decade ago they were doing Kinect games.
So glad nothing leaked (outside of the collab rumors).
Oh and that soundtrack… 10/10. 
That music during the final battle in the last Tall Tale with the rain, the storm and all the ships shooting at you and your crew, pure epicness
https://youtu.be/JYMSuvA04gw?t=706
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOuL51UiMhs&ab_channel=OpposingReflection
‘Lord Beckett ! They’ve started to sing, sir…’
‘Finally.’
As a fan of Pirate of Caribbean: at World’s End, I LOVED their darker rendition of Hoist the Colours.
Anyone knows anything about what Rounhouse studios is making? They were absorbed after disastrous Rune 2 launch in november 2019, so at least they should have something to show next E3, or not?
But the Gears basics have been the same since the first game lol. Literally you played one and you played them all mechanically.
I felt like Gears could had pivoted to something like what Outriders did but I guess that ship has sailed.
Ι said The Coalition nailed the basics down which isn’t the easiest thing to do when you are not the original creator…Fergusson stated in interviews that this was their first and foremost goal and then expand on it when they feel confident that they have the basics down. I believe that Gears 6 will be their chance to expand on the formula. 
Oh no, we’ve fallen back to the “Gears is stale” debate.
We either need new Xbox news, a new showcase, or for the July games to start coming out sooner because we’re circling back to pre E3 topics.
It is kind of hard to get extremely hyped for a game we know little about, but the more I read and watch the more I believe that Starfield is the most exciting project being developed under Xbox right now.
