Recently, Microsoft were teasing numerous announcements for the Xbox One including 1 announcement to be made today. Well that announcement has been made and it is to no surprise that its a brand new Gears of War title for the Xbox One after Microsoft confirmed they have bought the rights to the franchise from Epic Games and are tasking newly formed Black Tusk Studios to create the next installment in the franchise.
The Gears series has been one of the Xbox 360’s Staple franchises since 2006 and like Halo has since spawned numerous sequels & A Spin-Off (Exclusive to Xbox) however the rights to the franchise belonged to Epic Studios who if they wanted could have brought the franchise to PlayStation Consoles or the Wii U so Microsoft have today confirmed they have bought the rights to the franchise from Epic Games for undisclosed amount of money.
“Today we’re excited to announce that Microsoft Studios has acquired the rights to the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games, including rights to all existing and future games, entertainment experiences and merchandise,” the company said in a statement on the Xbox Wire. Furthermore, Microsoft have already tasked its recently formed Black Tusk Studios team in Vancouver with the creation of a new Gears of War game, and it has even brought in Rod Fergusson to help out.
“In addition, we are excited to announce that Black Tusk Studios in Vancouver, BC will take over development of the Gears of War franchise and that Rod Fergusson, former Director of Production at Epic Games on the Gears of War franchise, will join Microsoft and play a key studio leadership role at Black Tusk on the development of the franchise going forward,” the company added. Epic Games were also extremely happy with the transaction confirming they have already licensed to Microsoft the new Unreal Engine 4 tech to power the New Gears Game.
“We’re very proud of the franchise we built in close partnership with Microsoft over the past decade and are happy that this agreement enables Microsoft to forge ahead with the ‘Gears’ universe on their industry-leading platforms as Epic concentrates its efforts on new projects,” said Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney. “Epic remains totally dedicated to supporting Xbox One and is licensing the Unreal Engine 4 technology to Microsoft in support of their future projects.”
Microsoft has confirmed they will reveal more details regarding the new entry in the Gears of War franchise in the future. To be honest though, We can probably expect to hear the official title at E3 this year alongside Halo. Check out the trailers/Adverts for all 4 games in the series.
So what do you think? Are you excited for a Next Gen Gears of War? Do you think Marcus Fenix should return? How do you think the game will be in the hands of a new studio? Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our Facebook or Twitter Pages & Be Sure to stay tuned to UGNN for more news on Gears of War as it becomes available.
Article by Matthew McNamee
