Microsoft's Phil Spencer hopes the next Gears of War returns to the series' darker roots. In the beginning, Spencer loved the "epic scale, the settings that I was in, the massive destruction moments. It was more what I would call soulful and maybe even a little dark." The Head of Xbox told IGN that, in discussions with Rod Fergusson, who's in charge of Gears of War at Black Tusk Studios, he's talked about Gears of War becoming "a parody of itself" over time. "Not for any horrible reasons," but because managing success over time is challenging.