Interview: Talking "Gears" and Learning Industry Terms With Cliffy B

Skeptics say, "You can't just cram multiplayer in any game!" First off, I wouldn't say "cram" and the second thing is that you can add multiplayer in almost any game if you're creative about it. It's not necessarily gonna be you and I syncing up for a sword fight in a game like Dark Souls. It's going to be me leaving a clue on how to beat this boss and maybe I'm stashing a sword for you that you get at a later date and I let you know about the sword via text message that you uncover. It's that kind of asynchronous gameplay where players are helping others in these unique ways. It's a whole different way of thinking of multiplayer that is largely untapped right now. In the next Left 4 Dead, if I'm in a safehouse, why can't I leave graffiti for my next friend? "Who drew the dick again!?"

And with how the genre has evolved these many years where projects are needing to have at least two studios, one to handle the campaign and another to handle the multiplayer....

Yeah, you're getting to the point where it's starting to get compartmentalized. One studio's building the co-op missions, one's building the multiplayer, etc.. Bulletstorm had a bit of that. Tanya Jessen is actually submitting a talk for GDC about managing that kind of worldwide production.

This is happening because in 2011 and beyond, in order to make a $60 game that players will pay for day one, you need to make something that's huge, that's has a great campaign, that has a deep multiplayer suite, or otherwise you're gonna be in the Redbox as I'd like to say. Keep an eye out for our review of Gears of War 3 hitting tomorrow.