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360 exclusivity has "helped" Gears of War, says dev boss

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Both having Microsoft as a publisher and concentrating on 360 as a single format has aided the Gears of War IP, executive producer Rod Fergusson has told VG247.

"Yeah," said the developer when asked if keeping the franchise exclusive to 360 had been a benefit.

"Microsoft is just an awesome publisher. They're a great partner for us. They help us in so many ways, both in terms of the obvious with marketing support, and also in terms of usability, tested, play-testing, design reviews, support on the art side and a whole bunch of different things."

Fergusson described the restriction of having to keep Gear on 360 as a "tax" for working with Microsoft, but explained that the set-up allowed Epic to attempt to make the best possible title for one format.

"We benefit a lot by having Microsoft as a publisher, and one of the 'taxes,' if you will, of working with them is that we're only on one platform, but also it allows us to focus our efforts in terms of development," he said.

"UE3 runs great on PC, it runs great on PS3 and 360 as well, but for us as a team it allows us to focus and make the best game we can for that one particular platform, which has been great. I think it has helped the IP from that perspective as we've been focused on creating the best game possible."

Gears of War 2 has sold around 4 million units so far.

Fergusson was talking at GDC.

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Gears of War 2

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Patrick Garratt

Founder & Publisher (Former)

Patrick Garratt is a games media legend - and not just by reputation. He was named as such in the UK's 'Games Media Awards', the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. After garnering experience on countless gaming magazines, he joined Eurogamer and later split from that brand to create VG247, putting the site on the map with fast, 24-hour a day coverage, and assembling the site's earliest editorial teams. He retired from VG247, and the games industry, in 2017.

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