Lancer Not The New Lightsaber, Implies Rein News

In the wake of controversy over the weekend when Joshua Ortega, Gears of War 2's writer, said that Epic had a "ten-year plan" in place for the Gears franchise, Mark Rein has now spoken out to douse the flames of rumours emanating from Ortega's comments.

Rein, Epic's Vice-President, told VG247, "In this industry you can't plan games very far in advance. We appreciate the enthusiasm Josh has for our franchise but we don't have a ten-year plan."

This was in response to comments made by Joshua Ortega at last weekend's New York Comic Con, where he told a crowd of fans, "You will not be disappointed in the next ten years . . . It's a ten-year plan. Gears is long-term. The lancer is the new lightsaber."

Following these comments by Ortega, the internet was soon flooded with rumours surrounding the Gears series. At the more reasonable end of the scale, some reports suggested that Gears of War 2 single-player DLC was on the way, while more extravagant suggestions were that Gears must eventually come to the PS3 under this "ten-year plan".

Rein has been quick to put these rumours on ice:

"We always have ideas of where we'd like it to go but it's determined on a game-by-game basis and ultimately by fan support," he said. "Our focus right now is supporting the Gears of War 2 game and community."

"We're working on the next title update for Gears of War 2 right now. When this title update is done we'll start planning the next title update for Gears of War 2," Rein continued.