how many people play gears of war in the world now

Gears of War 2 sold very well and garnered critical acclaim; Cliff 'Cliffy B' Bleszinski is among an elite group of video games developers who could be considered rock stars; driving fancy sports cars, earning millions of dollars and launching global blockbuster franchises. The Epic Games design director has a gift for dealing with the media, always able to give that witty, sharp and seemingly honest sound-bite which journalists love to gobble up. Discussing the promotion of a new Gears of War game, he describes the process as like "firing bullets" from a belt filled with slugs of hype, ramping up the buck-shots to ultimately convince someone to part with their hard earned cash. For Gears of War 3, this means highlighting what is claimed to be the biggest single-player campaign Epic has ever created, along with extensive co-operative and competitive multiplayer modes. But equally, Bleszinski understands that endearing a studio and its games to the public is sometimes about honesty being the best policy. After its release in 2008, the online Versus component of Gears of War 2 was beset with matchmaking issues, meaning many players were left enduring long waits to find matches online. Bleszinski expressed his hope to be able to put a copy of Gears of War 3 in his Xbox 360 on the release day and "actually find someone online". He added: "The worst thing about the Gears 2 launch was going online and seeing that little circle spinning. I was like, 'This is bad'. I think the series will progress and grow, but it was limited by that, because other games came in and said, 'Hey we work', and people were like, 'Alright'." Bleszinski refers to Gears of War 3 as a game he wants people to "marry, not date", an aim which is almost wholly dependent on getting the online game right. He has even gone on the record as saying that the future of the franchise and indeed Epic Games "depends on it". Gears of War 2 sold very well and garnered critical acclaim, but Bleszinski knows that the multiplayer problems held it back from its true potential. He also accepts that the decision to shun an online beta for the game was a mistake. "Gears 2 did very well for us but at the same time it could have been even better if the online had been consistent and worked well," he said. "I am perfectly willing to admit when we make mistakes and when I am wrong. In the same way, I have said in the past that betas and demos are wrong for games, because then gamers have the initial taste of it. I think now that for some games a beta doesn't make sense, but with an online game when you are expecting gamers to play for thousands of hours, I think a beta makes huge sense." Source: http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/interviews/a322069/gears-of-war-3-cliff-bleszinski-on-multiplayer.html