Ranking All Of Microsoft's First-Party Studios Worst To Best

8. The Coalition

Notable Games: Gears Of War 4, Gears Of War: Ultimate Edition

In Development: Gears 5

Similar to Bungie with Halo, Epic Games were eager to sell off the Gears Of War franchise to Microsoft and move on to greener pastures after wrapping up their run- so who would be there to pick up the slack?

The Coalition was constructed with the purpose of filling the series' shoes, a big order no doubt, but at least it was led by Rod Fergusson (the original producer on Gears 1). They jumped into development with a remaster of the original game, followed by a proper fourth instalment - unfortunately, both were a bit underwhelming.

The Ultimate Edition looked polished but its mechanics were painfully dated, while Gears 4 sported likeable new characters yet the gameplay and plot beats were overly familiar - where was Gears' next step forward?

Thrillingly Gears 5 looks to hold a deep storyline with plenty of dramatic twists, plus new enemy types (finally!) - here's hoping it delivers the fresh new life the franchise desperatelt needs.