Gears of War Multiplayer Has Been "Under-Served," Producer Says

Gears of War 4's multiplayer stands to be "genre-defining," developer The Coalition said today as part of the game's release date announcement. In a separate interview, producer Rod Fergusson said The Coalition is pushing so hard on multiplayer because it's been "under-served" by the past games.

"As you look across 1, 2, and 3, the multiplayer has been under-served," Fergusson told Entertainment Weekly. "The reality of these types of games were the campaign is where you have to put most of your muscle to get it done, and you look back at Gears 1 and it was probably a 90-10 split between campaign and multiplayer. It got better over time."

The difference for Gears of War 4 is that development on the game's campaign and multiplayer modes, headed up by two different internal teams, started at the same time.

"So we've had this sort of emphasis and focus on all aspects of the product from the beginning," Fergusson said. "What that means is that multiplayer has been greater served by our design team and our resources to make sure we're doing the right things."

Gears of War 4's multiplayer will "feel like Gears and play like Gears" as you remember it, Fergusson said, while it will also introduce "more nuance and sophistication into some of the things that are there."

While specifics are being saved for a later date, Fergusson teased that Gears of War 4's multiplayer will include new maps, modes, weapons, and "all the usual fun stuff."

Gears of War fans don't have to wait much longer to learn more, as the Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta, described as a "technical beta," starts later this month. You can check out this post for a full rundown of how to get in.

Gears of War 4 is scheduled to launch on October 11 for Xbox One. A PC version may also be released, but nothing has been confirmed at this stage. In other news, it's been confirmed that the game will offer split-screen play for multiplayer, though frame rate drops to 30fps when playing this way.