The Gears of Wars series has always been known for its gorey and violent content. But for the franchise’s highly anticipated upcoming sequel Gears 5, developer of the beloved series The Coalition has decided to leave out one controversial aspect from the game. It has been confirmed that Gears 5 will not have any tobacco references within the game.
Reportedly Anti-smoking organization Truth went to Eleague, who holds the broadcast rights for the game about the game and since then they have worked with Microsoft as well as The Coalition to make the game as smoke free as possible. Turner Sports Digital and ELeague sales strategy and revenue head Seth Ladetsky said That the “change has actually been in the works for months. This took a lot of time and a lot of good thinking, It’s the right image for ELeague—and the game itself—to project.”
Studio head Rod Fergusson also made a statement about the development “I’ve seen firsthand the devastating impact of smoking. It’s always been important for me to not use smoking as a narrative device, which is why we made the conscious choice to avoid highlighting or glorifying smoking in Gears 5 and throughout the Gears of War Universe moving forward.” Furgesson also took to Twitter to express his views against smoking and how they influenced his decision on this push for the game to be anti-smoking.