Microsoft Studios announced its acquisition of the Gears of War franchise from Epic Studios, its original creators, today. This includes not only upcoming games that will be developed under the studio, but also the previous iterations of the series and all merchandise thereof.
The reigns for the development of future games in the franchise have been handed over to the Vancouver-based subsidiary studio of Microsoft, Black Tusk.
The acquisition of a franchise like this is not altogether unexpected; Microsofts’ release of the Xbox One came with only a small group of exclusive games, and AAA titles like Halo are far on the horizon for the console. But the big surprise is handing such a big-name franchise to what is (so far) an unproven studio.
In Microsoft Studios’ press release, they attempt to alleviate any fears by letting us know that Black Tusk has assembled “a world class team with deep experience and passion for the shooter space, and specifically the Gears of War franchise”. Black Tusk has integrated former Epic Studios Director of Production Rod Fergusson into their creative team. The studio will also be using Unreal Engine technology to develop the next installment for the fan-favorite franchise.
With Microsoft Studios acquiring such massive tracts of the video gaming farmland, will it benefit the series that it loves so much, or smother it in first-party stagnation? Black Tusk still hasg an open position for a lead writer on the project, so it’s clear that we won’t see the results of the acquisition for quite some time; but here’s hoping that it will bring in some new life to the franchise in the coming year.