Microsoft Buys "Gears of War"

Ben Sherry ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

On Monday, January 27, Microsoft issued a press release stating they had bought the Intellectual Property rights to the Gears of War series from Epic Games.

Although only appearing on Microsoft consoles, up to this point Gears of War had been owned by the studio that created it with an exclusivity contract to ensure it wouldn’t appear on competing hardware. As Epic decides to move on to other non-Gears projects, Microsoft has decided to buy the rights to the property and hand over the reins to unproven studio, Black Tusk.

In a Q&A asking why Black Tusk was assigned the task of carrying on the Gears legacy, Head of Microsoft Studios Phil Spencer said, “Black Tusk has assembled a world-class team with deep experience and passion for the shooter space, and specifically the Gears of War franchise.  I am extremely confident that under the leadership of Hanno Lemke, Rod Fergusson and our other leaders in the studio, Black Tusk is well equipped to take on the future development of the Gears of War franchise.”

Bringing on a developer like Rod Ferguson should assuage many die hard Gears fans’ fears as he has been with the series since its inception, helping to lead every game in the series so far. No information has been revealed yet about either Epic Games’ new project or the new entry in the Gears of War series.

Stay tuned with Emertainment Monthly for the latest news on either of them. What do you think about this deal? Is this a sign of much needed change for the franchise or could this be the end of Gears as we know it? Tell us in the comments!