The Coalition has confirmed that it’s going to remove all references to smoking and tobacco from Gears 5. This is part of a new collaboration with the non-profit organization Truth Initiative. It’s devoted to eliminating smoking and tobacco usage. The two have worked together to remove references to this deadly habit from the game.
Variety reports that this collaboration happened when the Truth Initiative reached out to Turner, the company which owns the broadcasting rights to the Gears 5 pro league and asked them to consider the change. To that end, The Coalition decided to eliminate all references related to smoking and tobacco usage from the game. Microsoft also says that this decision was made entirely by The Coalition.
The Coalition boss Rod Fergusson said that “I’ve seen firsthand the devastating impact of smoking,” and that it has always been important to him to not use smoking as a narrative device. This is why they have made the conscious choice to “avoid highlighting or glorifying smoking in Gears 5 and throughout the Gears of War Universe moving forward.”
It has taken a few months to do that, though, which suggests that there were quite a few references to smoking and tobacco usage in the game. Gears 5 is slated for release on September 10th this year. It will be available for the Xbox One and PC.
Filed in .. Source: variety