Baird Chosen for Gears Prequel For Being “Fan Favourite”

Gears of War 3 might have been the end of the Gears Trilogy as we knew it, but nobody thought for a second that the franchise would end there. Gears of War: Judgement takes us back before the original 360 game and gives us a glimpse at the back story of Baird. Why was that character chosen?

According to Epic and People Can Fly, it’s because Baird was the favourite character for gamers.

From ThatXboxShow and Lead Level Designer, Jim Brown:

“With Gears of War: Judgment we really wanted to take a step back and not just do another Gears, but to actually expand the universe and do a lot of new things we were unable to do before.

“So one of the first things we did was go and talk to the fans and say, ‘What is it you want to see?’, ‘Where do you want to go?’, ‘Who do you want to be when playing this game?’ The overwhelming feedback was that Damon Baird was a fan favourite.

“He was an interesting character. He’s actually kind of divisive. Most players really, really like him, but there were a couple that were like, ‘Man that’s guy’s just an asshole’. But to me that means he’s interesting. That means that there’s a real story there to tell.”