Rod Fergusson, the former studio head of Xbox's The Coalition, has provided some insight into the direction he was planning to take the sixth mainline Gears of War entry prior to leaving the studio in 2020. Having separated from Gears of War, Fergusson currently serves as the head of the Diablo franchise at Blizzard Entertainment, and is working on supporting Diablo 4 for years to come.

Back in June, Xbox held what has been called its best games showcase ever as part of Summer Game Fest. Closing out the show was an appearance from The Coalition, which debuted a cinematic reveal trailer for the next game in the Gears of War franchise, Gears of War: E-Day. In a surprising twist, The Coalition is momentarily foregoing a Gears 5 follow-up in favor of a prequel set fourteen years before the original Gears of War, which will focus on the bond between series protagonist Marcus Fenix and fan-favorite character Dom Santiago in the earliest days of the Locust invasion.

Gears of War: E-Day Could Set the Stage for Another Microsoft Franchise's Future

Given The Coalition's development strategy for Gears of War: E-Day, it could provide a sneak peek at another popular Microsoft franchise's future.

In the latest episode of IGN's Podcast Unlocked, Rod Fergusson shared his narrative plans for what would've been Gears of War 6. Fergusson mentioned that he was planning to take Kait, Marcus, and the crew off Sera to see whether life would be sustainable on a different planet in Sera's solar system. He pointed to the Sputnik-like Union of Independent Republics (UIR) tech the characters came across in Gears 5 as the way the crew would be able to get to space, saying it wouldn't be a massive space expedition, just a group of desperate humans attempting to escape and survive.

Rod Fergusson Wanted To Take Gears of War 6 To A Different Planet

Fergusson also talked about the crucial decision to save either JD Fenix or Del Walker at the end of Gears 5, saying he didn't have a definitive canon choice. Rather, The Coalition was planning to leave it up to the players, and using the stats of the in-game decision, would move forward with the character that was saved by more players. It's interesting to know Fergusson was ready to leave such an important franchise decision up to fans. Though not as important a character, Epic Games did something somewhat similar for Gears of War 3, allowing fans to vote to either kill off Clayton Carmine or have him survive. As for Gears 6 leaving Sera, there's a ton of possibilities for what Kait and the crew could encounter on a different planet as far as new enemy threats go. Whether the Locust live in the center of every planet in Sera's solar system would be an interesting theory to potentially explore.

While Gears of War: E-Day is next in line, Gears of War 6 and the continuation of Kait Diaz's story following Gears 5's cliffhanger ending is still very much a possibility down the road. It'll be interesting to see whether Fergusson's narrative ideas for the entry make it to fruition. For now, fans have Gears of War: E-Day to be excited about, which is rumored to be coming sometime in 2025.