Microsoft Opens Wallet, Buys Gears of War Franchise

VIDEO GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today in being unable to leave well enough alone. What is the point of this, aside from leveraging a known name? Who actually wants another Gears of War at this point? That universe is done. Just let it die.

I wonder if Fortnite will still be the same game the next time we see it. How many years has it been since Fortnite was announced?

"The fandom, the cosplay, the tattoos, it all means more than any amount of money could ever mean."

don't pretend cliffy

Cool. The more variety the better. Really enjoyed People Can Fly's take on the franchise with Judgment. It smelt faintly of Bulletstorm which was nice.

Bring it on I say!

Black Tusk Studios huh? According to the wiki, other than this, the only thing connected with them is an untitled trailer from last year's E3. Hopefully they will create some good stuff there.

As someone who used to get a serious hard on for the Gears games (Judgment made me soft though) I'm curious to see if MS will continue to play it safe with the franchise and just churn out an extremely familiar, but pretty looking Gears game because if that's the case then no thanks, I already played Gears 3

I'm really curious what game was being teased in that video, especially since Gears is now going to be their debut title. I wonder if that other game has been shelved/cancelled or if it's going to start up as a two team studio. That's crazy ambitious if so.

I want a new Gears of War game about as much as I want a new God of War game.

Not at all.

I guess this is the best solution for everyone involved. Those that love Gears will get a new Gears of War game, and those that want something new from Epic will get just that.

I enjoyed what I played of the franchise, but I'm really looking for something else out of games at this point. The idea of a new first person or third person shooter doesn't thrill me and is unlikely to motivate me to buy a new console. Though anything is possible and I won't rule out an entire genre just based on the shooter, or more accurately, sequel fatigue that I've acquired over this last generation.

Interested to hear the story behind the original IP Black Tusk was working on that was shelved in favor of Gears of War franchise duties. I get the cold business explanation but seeing as that project is being downplayed as a concept piece and not a real game by some in the press, I wonder how it all went down.

Stop, stop, and stop. Gears of War is not the thing, seriously, who cares anymore? Weren't these guys the ones doing a new IP before this? That's lame.

So who will be cast as Marcus Fenix in the upcoming Gears TV series?

I'd go with Danny Bonnaduce.

The answer to your many cries of "WHY":

The suits wanted it this way.

@patrickklepek "has purchased" Also typing that word and saying it aloud has made me realize that it is an odd word.

Good news for MS, seeing as it's a massive franchise, and will now remain exclusive to Microsoft. Good news for Gears fans, as they know more sweet chainsaw bayonet action will be coming sometime down the road. Good news for developer Black Tusk, as they should have some job security for a while. Good news for Epic, as I'm sure they're ready to move onto something else. And good news for me, because I couldn't care less about the Gears franchise at this point, and don't really care about seeing it available on PS4.

Call me crazy, but I think trilogies should end with the third one. I never did pick up a copy of Judgement.

This is a particularly interesting development given Microsoft's recent move towards moBLLLAAAAAAMMM!!! SHOTTY TO THE FACE, SON! WHAT UP, NOOBY NOOBERSON! CHECK OUT MY LEET SKILLZ. YOU JUST GOT MERCKED BY BLAZIN_SHOTTY_420, KID! YEAH!

I wonder if we see and hd version of the trilogy before we see a new gears game

As an XBONE owner, this is a bummer for me. New IP sounds more interesting than more Gears of War.

Gears has been milked dry already, not a smart move.

curious to see if they are going back to do a prequel trilogy, or they are going to continue from gears 3 and start a new conflict,

they could do something in between, read a lot of the comics for gears, there is some interesting angles they could go storywise.

Super-dark noir murder mystery starring Baird

People still care about Gears? I really hope MS is investing in new IPs as well. If it's just another generation of Gears and Halo I will sell my xbone no questions asked.

A new gears of war! GREAT! Thought for a second they were going to force me to buy an Xbox one by making a crazy ambitious interesting looking game or locking the exclusive for fallout 4 or something stupid.

Really dodged a bullet on that one...

Not a very good move in my opinion. I got sick of this series after the second, but played the third to see how it ended. Didn't even bother with Judgement, and I doubt i'll give this a go either. Would have rather heard more about their original IP.

The last main Gears of War was really good, so I don't see why there are so many negative reactions.

I mean it could turn out good. :)

I'm up for a next gen Gears. I always liked the campaign and replaying them on mute while listening to Japanese language courses

For Epic to sell off a money making franchise is pretty bold, here's hoping Unreal Engine 4 takes off like 3 did and that they find success in their new games.

No one asked for this.

Microsoft cancelled their new IP, no way a small team like Black Tusk can dev 2 games simultaneously.

@cikame said:

Is it a money making franchise? I don't follow the business side of things (it's news to me to Microsoft didn't own it already) but the franchise seems pretty dead to me.

They should do something with the Pendulum Wars

@eccentrix: Sure it is (money-making)! Gears 2 sold the most with 6.6 million, with the two others at roughly 6 million copies.

Judgement sold 1.4 million, though understandably so due to lack of marketing and not being in the main series.

I think the franchise has probably cooled off, but I don't see how they can't whip up a lot sales with a new generation Gears.

I'm interested to see how they'll try to make this work.

Over twenty-two million units have been sold across all “Gears of War” titles worldwide, grossing over $1B dollars (US).

I feel like Microsoft has gotten suckered by both Bungie and Epic on these big franchise deals. I was mostly done with Gears after 2, picked up 3 in the bargain bin for $10 and didn't feel burned at that price, but I feel like I've seen what that universe has to show me. Same for Halo. Who knows, maybe it's a savvy business decision, but my gut tells me that the shooter space is going to be dominated by Titanfall and Destiny in the coming years, with plenty of competition from CoD and Battlefield. That's not a very forgiving marketplace to try and peddle Franchise Game, This Year's Sequel by Team B.

@boss_kowbel: Announcd in 2011 I believe, and I loved the concept then and still do now. But I have serious doubts, years later that it will be the modern TF2/Minecraft with zombie nights they seemed to so heavily imply earlier.

I would rather have a new IP.

Cancelling a new ip for another Gears game is such a Microsoft thing to do.

Cliffy B <3

@bigjeffrey said:

I meant is it going to continue to be a money making franchise? Enough to forgo selling it off right now?

What a stupid move by Microsoft, gosh. I don't get why'd they would ever make another game in this series. It won't sell, no one in the world wanted this. But hopefully we get another God of War, and then another God of War collection and another God of War Saga release. I could use a few more of those games, after 7 of them and 3 sagas.

Franchises make lots of money. Gameplay can be and story can be tweaked, altered and engaging, regardless. Does everyone just write everything off that they have no idea about nowadays?

No one even knows what that new IP was, or if it was shaping up to be anything decent. Or even if it hasn't changed developers.

The days of waiting for things to be reality then forming opinions on them are long gone it would seem.

I understand the "Why would they do this?" I don't understand the "This game is/will be shit." Geez y'all are such downers.

Makes sense.

Sure, shelf it for 2-3 years, but bring on the new IP's please.

Probably a good move for Epic i think. Safe move from MS, but I don't know if the general gamer population is super pumped for another Gears game.

@trafalgarlaw: It's not "small." They were built as a new AAA development studio so they have plenty of employees. Also there have been a handful of closures in Vancouver recently that put a ton of super talented developers out of work, so putting together a second team of highly skilled and experienced developers would actually be pretty easy in that city. It is in the top ten largest game design cities in North America and the third biggest in Canada after Montreal and Toronto. They also have some great game design schools there so there are a ton of fresh young talent itching for a chance to work on a big game.

No one wants a new Gears! Except for the fuckton of people who will buy it when it comes out because it's the first Gears game on new hardware.

Some of you guys have a really deluded and insular view of things.