The Coalition is the Xbox Game Studio associated with the long-running Gears of War franchise, but according to rumors going around, the development studio may be working on a new IP.
During the latest episode of his "The Game Mess Show," Venture Beat's Jeff Grubb spilled the beans about The Coalition working on a new intellectual property. Xbox Game Studios is working hard to release Halo Infinite later this year, and The Coalition has joined the efforts, but the new IP may give fans of the Gears of War franchise something else to appreciate from The Coalition.
Apparently, the team is not only working on a new installment in the Gears franchise, helping 343 Industries with Halo Infinite, and working on the recently reported Xbox Star Wars game, but The Coalition is also working on a new IP altogether. According to Grubb, this third item on The Coalition's to-do list is probably a long way from release, but it's another project that will further expand the Gears of War developer's catalog.
"Gears studio, The Coalition, is busy," said Jeff Grubb during The Game Mess Show. "They are working on Halo, they are helping with Halo Infinite. That is one of the big projects that Coalition is contributing to in a major way. Coalition is also, of course, making the next Gears game, of course, they're gonna do that. But the Coalition is also working on a third thing, and it likely is a new IP."
The Coalition is well-known for Gears of War, but not for much else which is about to change according to these rumours from Grubb. While he doesn't seem positive that this third title isn't related to Star Wars, Grubb remains confident that The Coalition has a trio of titles in the works between the 200 developers at the studio. Lucasfilm has reportedly been looking at other studios such as Ubisoft to make future Star Wars games and it looks like The Coalition is going to be releasing a future Xbox exclusive Star Wars title. Since The Coalition is part of the Xbox Game Studios, it's likely that both the unannounced Star Wars game and the new IP will wind up on Xbox Game Pass day one.
"Now, I've heard rumors that it could be a Star Wars thing from out of the Coalition, but I haven't been able to confirm that and these are rumors that have been kicked around a few different places, so it's hard to track down. Basically, I'm not putting any money on that... But, The Coalition is working on a third thing, so we'll see what that turns into. It's probably still quite a ways off, and whether that comes out before the new Gears, I don't know. Maybe it's in the prototype phase, but they are considering something new."
While Grubb hasn't revealed anything Xbox fans can expect from a new IP from The Coalition, fans of the developer have become accustomed to third-person cover-based shooters. The Coalition has recently delved into strategy titles with Gears Tactics, so this new IP may include strategic elements learned during production on the spin-off title. Since Halo and Gears are shooters, it wouldn't be a stretch for the studio to be working on another shooter of some sort but fans may find a new genre to enjoy if the developer dabbles into something else.
While Grubb has gotten leaks right in the past and he's a prominent figure in gaming journalism, all rumors should be taken with a grain of salt before any official announcements from Xbox or The Coalition.
Source: Pure Xbox