Gears Of War Boss Says He Left Mafia 3 Over "Creative Differences"

Gears of War studio head Rod Fergusson has worn a lot of hats throughout the industry. He seems to have found a home at The Coalition, but a developer talk about his experiences at different studios has shed more light on one of his old projects, Mafia 3.

In the talk from PAX South, Fergusson explains how he has transitioned from job to job, going from a position of helping to finish BioShock Infinite to starting a new studio under the 2K umbrella. He suggests that the game may not have been called Mafia 3 when he worked on it, and says that he ultimately left due to creative differences.

"I got to help start a new studio and start working on a new game," Fergusson said. "I never finished it, but ultimately that studio became Hangar 13 and that game became Mafia 3. The reason I didn't finish it was just because of creative differences with senior management there. I had other ideas for this game and the studio and it didn't jibe with what the senior management wanted to do so again, for the second time in my life, I went untethered."

That was in 2013, and the following year he took a new role at The Coalition. Mafia 3 released to mixed reviews in 2016. Fergusson didn't offer further explanation of how his vision differed from that of management, but his comments may imply that in those early stages it wasn't a Mafia game at all.

On the whole, Fergusson has been open about how his experiences at one studio have shaped his approach at others. He said in an interview with GameSpot that Gears 5's combat, which sometimes lets you approach combat in different ways and choose when to initiate, was inspired by BioShock Infinite. Currently The Coalition is co-developing Gears Tactics.