The Coalition's approach to developing Gears of War 4 is one that favors community input, and a recent Twitter poll may have the developer rethinking the game's difficulty.
Video game developers have very different approaches to difficulty settings. Some, like From Software, believe that gamers should be pummelled without mercy and forced to hone their skills at a game before being rewarded with victory and some truly sweet loot. Others, like Nintendo, often favor games that provide high entertainment value and enjoyment. For The Coalition, the studio with the enviable task of being the developer currently making Gears of War 4, it appears its philosophy on game difficulty is at a crossroads.
At least, that's what appears to be the case after Gears of War 4 producer Rod Fergusson asked a question on Twitter earlier this week regarding the game's difficulty settings. Fergusson asked his followers "Gears 4 Insane Difficulty. You want to earn it by beating the game or play it right away?" before providing a poll that ended up tallying over 6,400 votes. As it turns out, gamers might be an impatient bunch after all - the "give it to me right away!" option won out over the "make me earn it!" category by a rather large margin.
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It's no surprise that Fergusson would want some feedback on the upcoming Gears of War 4, as The Coalition is producing its first Gears of War game after Microsoft purchased the rights to the series from Epic Games a few years ago. Of course, the informal Twitter poll could mean nothing, but it's interesting to see the man who had a hand in the first three Gears of War games willing to discuss change in something as simple but important as difficulty settings.
Whether or not Fergusson and The Coalition offer gamers the hardest Gears of War 4 difficulty setting immediately, however, doesn't change the fact that Microsoft likely has another massive hit on its hands. Gears of War 4 was one of YouTube's Top 10 Trending Games of April 2016, ahead of both DOOM and Overwatch. That's impressive company for any game to keep, and The Coalition will want to build on that momentum heading into E3 2016, where the game is expected to have a presence.
It doesn't hurt that Gears of War 4's gameplay is already receiving positive press, too. Fans of the series reported that the Gears of War 4 beta was fun and chaotic, which helped assuage fears gamers might have had regarding the change in development teams leading into the latest Gears of War game's production. Still, some more control over that experience from the very beginning might be nice, and perhaps Fergusson will agree after the result of his Twitter poll.
Would you prefer the ability to play Gears of War 4's Insane difficulty right away? How important is control over difficulty settings to you in general? Let us know in the comments below.
Gears of War 4 will release on October 11, 2016 as an Xbox One exclusive.