Gears 5 will be the first game in the franchise to feature 3-player co-op in its story campaign. Despite that, it remains 2-player co-op focused, like Gears of War, Gears of War 2, and Gears of War 4 before it. The third player will take on the role of Jack the robot as a compromise between The Coalition and fans who want to co-op with more than 2 players. It's shy of the 4-player co-op found in Gears of War 3 and Gears of War Judgment, but The Coalition has good reasons for Gears 5's co-op limitations.
Speaking with Screen Rant, Gears 5 campaign design director Matt Searcy explained the studio's decision to focus on 3-player co-op. Or more specifically, co-op focusing on 2 main characters instead of 3 or 4. Storytelling is one of the primary issues. Searcy agrees that 2-player co-op allows for more intimate, character-driven storytelling. "And because four-player co-op means you have at least four characters in every single cinematic and every single story beat at all times."
Searcy also describes how gameplay changes significantly in Gears going from 2-player co-op to 4-player co-op. With 4 players, "a game that's based very clearly on fronts and enemies and cover and ammo scarcity can devolve pretty quickly into a bit of a free-for-all." A 2-player focus allows The Coalition to focus in both narratively and gameplay-wise, with tighter and more intensely structured action.
Story and character development is where Searcy feels Gears 5 is making steps forward, naturally. They describe how Gears 5 is built around a war, but is also driven by the main protagonist Kait. 2-player co-op allows The Coalition to focus on Kait while also rotating through other characters, which allows the narrative to push and pull Kait between the war and her personal journey. And there's room for telling intimate stories about Kait's squadmates through that.
In many ways, Searcy's comments mirror those of The Coalition studio head Rod Fergusson. Speaking during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Fergusson was much more blunt about the troubles caused by 4-player co-op. "It's chaos." He'd go on to describe how 4-player co-op leads to much bigger levels and frustrations in storytelling. He notes how in Gears of War 3 you might recognize how many scenes force the full squad to have at least one line of dialogue. He agrees that a 2-player focus makes for better storytelling, with a third character fit in as a compromise.
Co-op fans will, of course, have other opportunities in Gears 5. Escape is a 3-player cooperative mode. Horde mode is a 5-player cooperative option. There are no 4-player co-op options, but The Coalition has hopefully made up for that fact with its alternatives. And the reason behind them, too.
Gears 5 releases September 10 on PC and Xbox One.