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Gears Tactics will launch on April 28 for Windows 10, Xbox Game Pass for PC and Steam. In How Games Make Money This Week, presenter Jeff Grubb sits down to talk to The Coalition COO Mike Crump and Xbox General Marketing Manager Ben Decker about the game’s release. As part of that conversation, Decker and Crump also discuss the effect that Game Pass has on design, development, and the business model. Join us, right?
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Gears Tactics is exactly what it says on the label. It takes the classic Gears of War setup and turns it into a turn-based tactical game. And it’s a good fit. Gears taught many people about the strategic use of hedging, and that thinking translates well into the realm of strategy.
And by talking to Decker and Crump, they make it clear that this game exists in part due to Xbox Game Pass. That Netflix-like subscription service provides some creative slack and allows creators to take risks, especially for first-party Microsoft studios. And instead of just thinking about creating games that sell units, The Coalition can build something for the purpose of expanding the reach of the Gears universe. That’s why the game will hit Game Pass for PC and Steam the same day.
“Players should be able to play our games wherever they are,” Crump said. “And we want to reach them on whatever platform we are on.”
Above: Gears Tactics presents a complete Gears-world story.
Image credit: Xbox Game Studios
But even when Gears Tactics launches on Steam, The Coalition isn’t necessarily concerned with topping the charts.
“We have certain expectations and we will measure them in terms of unit sales,” Crump said. “But Game Pass just frees us up a bit from having to rely solely on those metrics to be successful. … but when we are deciding whether to make a game or not. It’s nice to have all those different metrics for success and not be tied to a single measure of ‘did you sell a certain number of units at a certain price point or not? Because I think it really allows us to take risks and try things that we wouldn’t do otherwise. ”
So in a gaming world where the best games are better than ever, but developers are producing fewer, riskier, smaller releases, Game Pass could mitigate that. Decker says that is the approach Microsoft is taking. And that’s also because subscribers are asking for a variety of experiences.
“From a portfolio perspective, there are two major goals,” said Decker. “The first is that you always have something cool to play, so there are a wide variety of genres and stuff for kids and center shooters.” And we want to make sure you have access to some of your old favorites. But then [we want to make sure] that there is always something new to play. We look at the feedback from our members who are very vocal about the games and genres they would like to see, so we hear that very closely. “
Does Xbox Game Pass mean more games like Gears Tactics and fewer blockbusters?
But as Microsoft releases Gears Tactics and tries to provide a variety of experiences, does that mean the company will focus on financing much smaller games? And will you do that at the expense of blockbusters?
“You know it really is about both,” Decker said. “It really is, because, again, our members want to see both. Those are the comments that we have heard loud and clear. They love discovering that kind of little developer with a game they’ve never heard of in a genre they maybe didn’t even know was a genre. And they love to discover more outrageous indie games, but they also want to see big triple or quad A hits in service as well. ”
Decker says Microsoft wants Game Pass to feel similar in its variety to going to the movies. You can find a unique foreign film in the art house cinema, but you also want to see The Avengers.
As for Crump and the rest of The Coalition, they made it clear that while some key performance metrics have changed, the core challenges remain the same.
“We are thinking of making a great game,” Crump said. “It really is that simple. I mean their hard. It’s easy to say, but it takes 99% of the team’s mental power to try and figure out how to differentiate ourselves and how to translate Gears of War into a new genre. And to discover how to reach the PC player and make them happy. Those are the things we are focusing on: how do we make the experience the best it can be? “
And everyone will be able to see those efforts for themselves when Gears Tactics launches next week.
