"Gears 1 had a canine helper with you that was cut early in the game. Guess word got out to Activision," Bleszinski said.

, though the studio has already decided Riley's fate.

Also in the interview, Bleszinski said "there's some truth" to the idea that cutting features can help ship games. "Sometimes you need to ship with the bare minimum of cool and then polish the cut ideas for a sequel, strangely enough," he said.

Bleszinski after 20 years with the company.