Microsoft buys 'Gears of War' franchise from Epic Games

[Shawn Knight]

Microsoft on Monday revealed plans to purchase the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will include all current and future games as well as merchandise and entertainment experiences according to a blog post on the matter from the official Xbox blog.

Under the Microsoft banner, Gears of War will now be developed at Black Tusk Studios (formerly known as Microsoft Vancouver) in Vancouver, BC. What’s more, former director of production at Epic Games on the Gears of War franchise, Rod Fergusson, is joining the team and will play a key leadership role at Black Tusk.

Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer said they purchased the franchise because of their commitment to Xbox fans. With over 22 million units sold across all Gears of War titles worldwide grossing more than $1 billion, there’s a very strong and passionate fan base on Xbox.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said his company is proud of the franchise they built in close partnership with Microsoft over the past decade. The agreement will enable the Redmond-based company to forge ahead with the ‘Gears’ universe and allow Epic to focus their efforts on new projects.

It certainly makes sense for Microsoft to purchase the franchise as it will ensure the title will remain an Xbox exclusive for the foreseeable future. Fans of the series will have no choice but to stick with Microsoft consoles if they wish to continue to get their fix and will ultimately need to purchase an Xbox One within a couple of years to do so.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/55459-microsoft-buys-gears-war-franchise-epic-games.html

 

[danny22]

So no more hope for a PC version ever!! Thank you MS.

 

[GhostRyder]

This was honestly expected because it was one of the bigger 360 games out there and Microsoft wants to make sure the franchises stay with it at least for the time. I'm surprised that it actually took this long for them to go ahead and sign off on a deal.

So no more hope for a PC version ever!! Thank you MS.

There had not been a PC version is 4 iterations of the game, did you really think that was going to happen anyway. Plus this is Microsoft who owns Windows, they may decide to do PC ports as well even if it does not seem like they will.

 

[Adhmuz]

"With over 22 million units sold across all Gears of War titles worldwide grossing more than $1 billion, there’s a very strong and passionate fan base on Xbox."

In other words Microsoft sees a lot of suckers out there ready to part with more of their money for a game franchise that will now have been ruined forever. Thank you Microsoft. And lol at even the idea of this being brought to PC ever...

"It certainly makes sense for Microsoft to purchase the franchise as it will ensure the title will remain an Xbox exclusive for the foreseeable future. Fans of the series will have no choice but to stick with Microsoft consoles"

Thus keeping your user base nice and under control, I'm surprised Microsoft doesn't start referring to people as sheeple and call it a day. It's too bad really, Gears was a decent franchise, but I have a feeling it was only because Epic was behind it, now lets see what the crap factory can churn out for an easy buck.

 

[Guest]

If they find a way to make to run only on Windows 8, then I'm sure they would be all for a PC version. Otherwise, Xbox will keep it exclusively.

 

[BlueDrake]

I'm wondering what they Epic Games will be doing, now that Gears of War is no longer their IP. I'm seriously doubting a revival of their Unreal series, so any ideas of any new IPs from Epic?

 

[Guest]

I don't know...the series ended for me at GOW 3. It was also the last one that Cliffy B worked on so there you go. I haven't been a fan of this series or Halo since the original developers left.

 

[DDG4005]

I thought I read somewhere that a Microsoft spokesperson said the company was bringing a much loved franchise to the PC. Perhaps this is what he was referring to.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Just wait till they change the name to include "One". I'm sure everyone will feel better about the transition.

 

[TS-56336]

Well I'm glad Gears will continue. Hell, I'd pay full price for a MP version with a more robust horde mode...

 

[Guest]

"With over 22 million units sold across all Gears of War titles worldwide grossing more than $1 billion, there's a very strong and passionate fan base on Xbox."
In other words Microsoft sees a lot of suckers out there ready to part with more of their money for a game franchise that will now have been ruined forever. Thank you Microsoft. And lol at even the idea of this being brought to PC ever...
"It certainly makes sense for Microsoft to purchase the franchise as it will ensure the title will remain an Xbox exclusive for the foreseeable future. Fans of the series will have no choice but to stick with Microsoft consoles"
Thus keeping your user base nice and under control, I'm surprised Microsoft doesn't start referring to people as sheeple and call it a day. It's too bad really, Gears was a decent franchise, but I have a feeling it was only because Epic was behind it, now lets see what the crap factory can churn out for an easy buck.

Somewhere in all that Microsoft hating, I'm sure you had a point. Really, I sometimes wonder if people like you randomly had Steve Ballmer personally arrive at your home and punch you in the stomach for you to hate the company that much. So you believe Microsoft is incapable of ever producing something successful? You have a feeling? Really? Gears has only ever been under Epic, so something tells me your feeling is right that it was a great success because of Epic games. Wow you're a genius.

 

[GhostRyder]

I think people need to give Microsoft more of a chance, they bought this to guarantee it would continue especially after that 4th game that was poor. Honestly they do a pretty darn good job with the in hourse titles, I mean look at the games that they release:

Halo 4
Forza Series
Ryse (Ok its not the best title, but its actually fun to an extent)
Killer Instinct

Thats just a few to name but they at least do the games justice plus some of the gears team is moving with them. It will get the attention it needs I believe, but we can judge that when it comes out. If it comes out and its horrible, we can rant all we want but until then we have nothing to judge.

 

[DDG4005]

I think people need to give Microsoft more of a chance, they bought this to guarantee it would continue especially after that 4th game that was poor. Honestly they do a pretty darn good job with the in hourse titles, I mean look at the games that they release:

Halo 4
Forza Series
Ryse (Ok its not the best title, but its actually fun to an extent)
Killer Instinct

Thats just a few to name but they at least do the games justice plus some of the gears team is moving with them. It will get the attention it needs I believe, but we can judge that when it comes out. If it comes out and its horrible, we can rant all we want but until then we have nothing to judge.

I agree with you but it is frustrating there's been no word out of Redmond about whether this franchise will make it to the PC on Windows 8/8.1 or not (for the record I have faith it will).

 

[yukka]

They could make it windows 8 only if they made it purchasable as a metro app via the store. How or whether a metro front end could stop people hacking it to run on win7 etc is not something I can answer. I thought ms own gears or war anyway. As long as they continue releasing 360 versions I'll be be happy