Faced with the loss of the BattleTech-MechWarrior property, Activision acquired exclusive worldwide rights to video games based on the Heavy Gear series.

[2] Heavy Gear was developed by largely the same team which created Mechwarrior 2, though with the significant addition of Frank Evers, then best known for Earthsiege 2.

"[7] Boba Fatt from GamePro wrote: "First-timers to the giant-robot-derby genre will enjoy Heavy Gear, but, ultimately, it's nothing more than a disappointing MechWarrior knockoff.

"[16][a] The reviewer from Next Generation wrote: "In creating Heavy Gear, Activision has a different universe and a better engine but a roughly designed game.

"[14] The reviewer from Pyramid #30 (March/April 1998) wrote: "A lot of hype heralded the Heavy Gear Computer Game [sic].