Why is there no smoking in Gears 5? It depends on who you ask

Enlarge / Don’t expect any more cigar-chomping characters to show up in the Gears games going forward.

The upcoming Gears 5 will not feature any on-screen depictions or references to smoking, according to the developers at The Coalition. But the precise sequence of events leading to that decision is apparently up for some debate.

The smoke-free story gained attention over the weekend with a report in Variety that linked the decision to a pressure campaign from the anti-smoking advocates at the Truth Initiative. According to Variety, The Coalition decided to remove the smoking references after Truth reached out to Turner Broadcasting, which featured Gears 5 as part of an invitational tournament filmed during its ELeague esports over the weekend.

That sequence seems plausible, especially considering that Truth is a presenting sponsor of the tournament, which is officially titled “Eleague Gears Summer Series Invitational powered by Truth.” And Truth has a long history of pressuring media companies to remove smoking references from their products, a move that recently led to changes in Netflix’s youth-focused programming.