In a rather shocking announcement, Microsoft has announced that it has purchased the rights to Epic Games’ Gears of War series, and that Black Tusk Studios in Vancouver will be taking over development. It was also revealed via Xbox Wire that former Director of Production at Epic Games for the franchise Rod Fergusson would be joining Microsoft to assist on the franchise.
Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney also issued the following statement: “Epic Games has reached an agreement to sell the ‘Gears of War’ intellectual property rights to Microsoft. 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. Epic remains totally dedicated to supporting Xbox One and is licensing the Unreal Engine 4 technology to Microsoft in support of their future projects.”
On being asked why Epic Games agreed to selling the rights, Black Tusk general manager Hanno Lemke stated that, “Epic has been a tremendous partner to work with, and it has been a privilege for Microsoft to be Epic’s publishing partner and work together to achieve the phenomenal success of the “Gears of War” games. Epic remains great partners and good friends of Microsoft Studios. In fact we will collaborate closely with Epic to ensure the inclusion of the Unreal Engine technology into the “Gears of War” franchise going forward remains consistent with the high quality fans have come to expect from the franchise.”
As of now, more Gears-related news is expected later this year. Gears of War exclusive to the Xbox One, and to Microsoft for that matter, for all time? Let us know your thoughts on it below.