VG247
Gears of War: Judgment developers Epic Games and People Can Fly decided to create the prequel around Baird after they found him to be a “fan favourite” among gamers. The fact that many gamers saw him as an “asshole” really helped their decision too.
In a video interview with That Xbox Show, lead level designer Jim Brown explained the decision, “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.”
Both developers also felt that hey had adequately covered the back stories of Marcus, Dom and Cole already, but that Baird was the only character left without a solid origin tale. Naturally, he was chosen to lead the game.
