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Microsoft Studios acquires rights to Gears of War franchise/Black Tusk does the work
- Thread starter ekim
- Start date
They could mitigate risk by making Gears with a new studio and while having a shot at a big new IP by letting Black Tusk continue.
That's been Sony's method. Uncharted was the cash cow, that didn't stop Sony from letting ND make The Last of Us. Killzone has been a profitable franchise, that hasn't stopped Sony from letting GG start up a new IP. Sony Santa Monica is the same, working on a new IP now, a portion of the studio working on said new IP while GoW: A was in development.
Microsoft needs to achieve real balance between established IPs and new IPs. That's been Sony's single best achievement over the last several years as a first party. They have a healthy balance of knowns and unkowns in every calendar year. MS instead just has a handful of core titles they keep trotting out and are unwilling to built something new in-house from the ground up.
dr_rus
Member
Skipped GeoWA, don't see any point in continuing this series from 3. Sorry, MS, try again later. Quantum Break is still the only game on XBO that interest me atm.
What's more interesting is what the fuck is Epic doing at all? They need a flagship title for UE4 and we haven't seen anything on it.
What's more interesting is what the fuck is Epic doing at all? They need a flagship title for UE4 and we haven't seen anything on it.
Uno Venova
Banned
It might not have sold as much as Gears, we'll never know now that it's shelved, who knows, they could have used that marketing money you hear so much about to try and make a new exclusive hit.
But that risk averse attitude is exactly why the output for the last years of the 360 was what it was.
But that risk averse attitude is exactly why the output for the last years of the 360 was what it was.
The games they did work on also involved guns.
Fuck, I love the games industry & culture so much. Plenty of innovation, pushing boundaries, lot of freshness. 100 millions of dollars + development costs + marketing costs for the same fucking game we've seen a thousand times in the last 8 years!
And before anyone thinks this is some fucking Sony vs MS bullshit, I think Sony's creative reliance on shit like Killzone 8, Infamous 4 and Uncharted 5 is equally embarassing.
And before anyone thinks this is some fucking Sony vs MS bullshit, I think Sony's creative reliance on shit like Killzone 8, Infamous 4 and Uncharted 5 is equally embarassing.
Now I'd like MS to fund and create a new RPG IP with obsidian. Do it MS.
Back on topic, Black Tusk will be a nice change and perspective I think for the series. Halo4 features the best single player campaign since Halo CE, I grew tired of Bungie anti climatic game design, and 343i shook up the single player for the better. With so much talent at Black Tusk, Rod back at the helm I'm expecting big things.
Back on topic, Black Tusk will be a nice change and perspective I think for the series. Halo4 features the best single player campaign since Halo CE, I grew tired of Bungie anti climatic game design, and 343i shook up the single player for the better. With so much talent at Black Tusk, Rod back at the helm I'm expecting big things.
Black Tusk was making that Spy game, and now they're just working on Gears of War?
This is a profound downgrade in my mind - I was so through with Gears of War by the end of last gen, and I was so looking forward to seeing their amazing take on a new bold game since people were raving about it in animation and sound and visuals.
There's a lot of pages, someone tell me my interpretation is wrong and they're not just working on Gears of War
This is a profound downgrade in my mind - I was so through with Gears of War by the end of last gen, and I was so looking forward to seeing their amazing take on a new bold game since people were raving about it in animation and sound and visuals.
There's a lot of pages, someone tell me my interpretation is wrong and they're not just working on Gears of War
You have it right.Black Tusk was making that Spy game, and now they're just working on Gears of War?
This is a profound downgrade in my mind - I was so through with Gears of War by the end of last gen, and I was so looking forward to seeing their amazing take on a new bold game since people were raving about it in animation.
There's a lot of pages, someone tell me my interpretation is wrong and they're not just working on Gears of War
Chobel
Member
Black Tusk was making that Spy game, and now they're just working on Gears of War?
This is a profound downgrade in my mind - I was so through with Gears of War by the end of last gen, and I was so looking forward to seeing their amazing take on a new bold game since people were raving about it in animation and sound and visuals.
There's a lot of pages, someone tell me my interpretation is wrong and they're not just working on Gears of War
It's exactly what you said, spy game is shelved, best case scenario it's on hold now.
FUNKNOWN iXi
Member
They need to do more with the Halo franchise than just FPS.. Halo Wars was such a breath of fresh air that I'm surprised we have yet to see another offshoot Halo game.
*sigh* some unsettling echoes this early on of MS's risk averse attitude loward the end of last gen, but at least we can be sure it'll be a damn impressive looking game and will probably play as well as the other Gears games at least. I just wish I didn't burn myself out on that franchise or hype myself up for their spy game in the interim, because that is a major game off my anticipation list
In hindsight, it was pretty silly to show that tech demo thing now. I don't think anyone would have any disappointment at this news were it not for that tech demo.
SwiftDeath
Member
There's a lot of pages, someone tell me my interpretation is wrong and they're not just working on Gears of War
Hmm your interpretation is not wrong I'm afraid Ami
And I feel like it isn't mentioned enough, I actually fully expected Gears of War 4 to exist no good reason why it wouldn't but I didn't expect it to come at the cost of one of the most interesting looking new IPs of this generation so far. That's the real disappointment here. Why couldn't MS just spin up a new studio to work on Gears 4?
What two?
Great that they have acquired the Gears of War franchise for the people that like it. But i can't see why they would make even more Gears of War games, i feel that the franchise is long finished, and they need something fresh. Why not use the talent that they have to make a new and exiting world.
Hmm your interpretation is not wrong I'm afraid Ami
And I feel like it isn't mentioned enough, I actually fully expected Gears of War 4 to exist no good reason why it wouldn't but I didn't expect it to come at the cost of one of the most interesting looking new IPs of this generation so far. That's the real disappointment here. Why couldn't MS just spin up a new studio to work on Gears 4?
Yeah, my issue is I always thought Gears of War was coming anyway. I presumed that was the case. I didn't know it was going to have to come at the expense of something. I hope Microsoft doesn't just turn Black Tusk into a Gears of War studio like 343i is a Halo studios and then they don't ever get a chance to return to that new IP. If they can at least make a Gears game, then make their new IP, then return to Gears, then I think it'd be fine in the end. A longer wait, but I'm patient...
...my one outlier hope here is that Black Tusk revitalizes the franchise of Gears and does something new with it that nobody expects.
Hmm your interpretation is not wrong I'm afraid Ami
And I feel like it isn't mentioned enough, I actually fully expected Gears of War 4 to exist no good reason why it wouldn't but I didn't expect it to come at the cost of one of the most interesting looking new IPs of this generation so far. That's the real disappointment here. Why couldn't MS just spin up a new studio to work on Gears 4?
Re: bolded- I think that spinning up a new studio is far riskier and costlier than we can think.
The other part of the discussion here- whether you like that we're getting GoW (me) or are disappointed- is the fact that we're all assuming that BT is sad by the move/bummed that their vision got put on hold. That may be the case, but I think we're making a leap by starting at that assumption.
bigboss370
Member
I thought the Black Tusk new ip was going to be shown off at E3...
what are the chances we see Gears at E3?
what are the chances we see Gears at E3?
FUNKNOWN iXi
Member
A whole lot of leaps going on after this news.. and most seem to be negative.
Who's to say that "spy" game wasn't going to be crap? Who's to say this isn't just what the Gears franchise needed? I don't know, but I'm just glad we're getting more Gears! I hope they learned from past mistakes and improve tenfold for the multiplayer.
maybe a teaser but this must be a fairly recent change over, so I don't think it'd be ready for a real E3 unveiling. Next year probably we'll get the works
Miles Quaritch
Member
Sony studios announcing new entries in their established IP and what MS have done to Black Tusk.
Sony studios - allowed freedom to create new IP and not have to worry about Sony lumbering them with an established IP and/or forcing them to abandon an IP they've worked on for close to 2 years.
MS studios - hope and pray MS don't force you to abandon a new IP you've spent 2 years working on in favour of working on an established one that's in decline...
I agree broadly with this narrative, but I think the truth is slightly less so. GG may be working on new IP now, but they've basically been chained to KZ, and they launched on PS4 with KZ. Same with Sucker Punch. ND made Infamous all through last gen, it was only til the end that we got TLOU.
Its undeniable that Sony definitely takes more risks, but there is also some risk mitigating going on. Which is fine by me, I'm down for next gen Uncharted and Infamous.
SwiftDeath
Member
Yep it's now a wait and see approach but I must say that the premise of a new gears of war is far less exciting in the interim than a new stealth IP regardless of the business implications
Of course a new studio is costly and risky but so is any move MS could've done with Black Tusk including this move to work on Gears. They literally scrapped at least a year of work on a major AAA budgeted game. That had to be dev costs in the millions thrown out the window for what? To get the studio to work well together and prep for working with UE4?
The idea that Black Tusk would be less happy working on a new Gears game than their own self-created IP is not much of a leap in logic honestly.
lol think you mean uncharted in the bolded but not a big deal
Sony made games like Puppeteer and Tearaway though so it's hard to argue that while there is obviously some level of risk mitigation at sony it is nowhere near as crippling as it appears to be at MS
Doug Heffernan
Member
It is entirely possible that the spy game was shit and not going anywhere so they canned it for good reason... but we'll never know.
Cboat says otherwise, but that's one person so far.
Cboat says otherwise, but that's one person so far.
It depends- I have no knowledge of how game creators view projects like this, but in the end its a business and its these people's jobs. The counter-point is that they've basically been gifted a security blanket- there's no way their new project will flop commercially.
yankeehater
Member
I think that seems like the most likely scenario. If the spy game was coming along great you would think they would have let them finish it and just have a different studio do Gears. They have clearly already put money into the spy game, and they showed it at E3 so they must have had high hopes for it at least.
justsomeguy
Member
Viva Gears of Piñata... I would play the fuck out of that game
Razgriz-Specter
Member
LOL my HALO 6 joke wasn't that far off.
IAmRandom31
Banned
More Gears, but now no Cliffy B, no Epic.
So Microsoft using Halo and Gears of War now except made by completely different teams. Smart move. Name recognition seems to be the most important thing to MS at this point.
So 343 is Halo studio
Black Tusk is Gears studio
Atleast as an Xbox owner you know what to expect.
So Microsoft using Halo and Gears of War now except made by completely different teams. Smart move. Name recognition seems to be the most important thing to MS at this point.
So 343 is Halo studio
Black Tusk is Gears studio
Atleast as an Xbox owner you know what to expect.
Doctor_Thomas
Member
I just think it's a shame to set up a developer, have them work on something and then hand them an old IP and tell them to get to work, regardless of what ideas they may or may not have had. 343i and Black Tusk basically exist to fill the void of Bungie and Epic in their respective franchises and that's a little sad.
It's going to be a hard balance, between keeping the series core and keeping old fans on board and making something new and interesting for a series that I think most people had felt run its natural course.
It's going to be a hard balance, between keeping the series core and keeping old fans on board and making something new and interesting for a series that I think most people had felt run its natural course.
toxiichollow
Member
so that spy game black tusk was working on is canned, and not on hold?
SwiftDeath
Member
I was of the opinion that Black Tusk studio was to be MS's crown jewel as there was a lot of poaching of high quality talent?
If that is the case these are not individuals that would have trouble finding new jobs if it suited them. Yes everyone likes job security but these are going to be the segment of game developers most capable of moving between roles/jobs to try and find the ones that suit them best. I have a feeling they landed in black tusk because they were promised some degree of freedom/creativity with a large budget. That would make the most logical sense to me considering what is known of the studio
Riky
$MSFT
I'm a big Gears fan so I'm very pleased we're getting more, although I don't expect it until 2016 or at the earliest christmas 2015. Maybe they could release the original digitally on X1 using UE4 in the meantime if it is 2016.
Also I think that whatever they paid they will make back from a franchise that averages over 5 million copies an outing, also have to consider how much brand damage would have been done if Epic had kept it and gone multi format.
Also I think that whatever they paid they will make back from a franchise that averages over 5 million copies an outing, also have to consider how much brand damage would have been done if Epic had kept it and gone multi format.
I don't see why everyone is acting like the spy game is gone forever or that black tusk will never be able to create their own ip. They were simply given development duties for the Gears of War franchise in the same way Naughty Dog has the development duties for the Uncharted franchise. They weren't created to only make gears of war games like 343. Sure, is it a bit dissapointing that their first game will be a gears of war game? I can definitely see how it would be for some people yes. But at the same time, this allows them to truly get closer as a team and hone their craft. Since the Marcus and Dom arc is over, they can pretty much go anywhere they want to and not upset the fans as long as the multiplayer remains in tact. They could set the game in the future or make a prequel, they can create their own story and their own cast of characters. And they aren't limited to the locust and lambent war. They could introduce an entirely new enemy. It's a bit different from halo because the gears 1,2,&3 arch is literally over. There was no teasing about the future of the franchise and where it could go. I would love it if they introduced some of the horror elements that were teased in some of the gears 1 trailers like this one
Working on a big AAA franchise like gears of war will also give them a lot of attention if they pull it off right. It will also give them a ton of experience and make them better at working with each other so that if they ever do get split in two or are given a new ip to work on, they won't hit as many development hurdles. Plus, a new gears of war running on UE4 will look amazing.
If the black tusk ip is as good as cboat said it was, and ms started to turn black tusk into a AAA studio after seeing it, I highly doubt it's gone forever.
Working on a big AAA franchise like gears of war will also give them a lot of attention if they pull it off right. It will also give them a ton of experience and make them better at working with each other so that if they ever do get split in two or are given a new ip to work on, they won't hit as many development hurdles. Plus, a new gears of war running on UE4 will look amazing.
If the black tusk ip is as good as cboat said it was, and ms started to turn black tusk into a AAA studio after seeing it, I highly doubt it's gone forever.
Wonder how much they paid? Thing about gears is it sold (I think) primarily because it was such a good looking game compared to what was out at the time. It was a technical showpiece. I'm not sure how well it will do now that it's resigned to the Xbone and they won't be able to produce a technical quantum leap over everything else available.
Still, I look at this as a missed opportunity for Sony to really put evenmore pressure on MS.. but again for all I know MS could have shelled out some obscene number in the hundreds of millions to secure the license. They are spend spend spend mode and probably will be for some time. I just hope the whole industry isn't willing to sell out to them and that the PS4 sales will make these kind of deals less and less realistic and profitable for developers soon.
Still, I look at this as a missed opportunity for Sony to really put evenmore pressure on MS.. but again for all I know MS could have shelled out some obscene number in the hundreds of millions to secure the license. They are spend spend spend mode and probably will be for some time. I just hope the whole industry isn't willing to sell out to them and that the PS4 sales will make these kind of deals less and less realistic and profitable for developers soon.
Again, that may be. But there's projecting happening there, to have a discussion with that as the starting point strikes me as intellectually dishonest. Sure, they can get jobs anywhere- but there are only a handful of studios making these kinds of AAAA games with the kind of marketing muscle this game will have behind it.
Why would sony buy the gears of war ip? They already have Uncharted and The Last of Us to satisfy their third person shooter audience. There is a reason they aren't making a resistance game; too many games of one genre compete with each other and hurt sales.
SwiftDeath
Member
A couple of things
- How long do you think the gen will last? 5 or 6 years? So 2 or maybe 3 games per team at most [probably 2]. If you think MS won't want as many Gears games as possible after paying through the nose for the IP you're mistaken. So for Black Tusk to get another shot at their new IP, they either need to spin up a second team or the 2nd Gears XB1 game needs to be made by another MS studio. In either case MS would need to setup a need studio or team and their move in this instance already signals that they are at least somewhat opposed to that lest they simply do it now instead of later
- Uncharted was an original IP made by ND. They were not being forced to make the 5th major game for a 8 year old franchise that was started by a 3rd party company. Comparing it to Uncharted is not a fair comparison.
- The most likely outcome from being forced to change direction entirely from a new in-house created IP to a rehash of an old IP serialized by a 3rd party is to create tension and disorient whatever unity already exists within the black tusk studio, not bring the team together. Many people are speculating this move will lead to people leaving the studio. Not the best environment for team-building
- Gears of war 4 [or whatever] can actually be good it really can. We'll see though but I hope they don't feel the need to pander to the already established fanbase which is a concern.
- Black Tusk was created to be MS's newest AAA studio and to make the next big "haloesque" game. That was always their initiative and the move to making the next gears is in many ways a downgrade in the level of trust and view of competency the studio received to make their own big new IP.
Let me ask you this then. You are working on a project you conceived for an entire year. Your boss comes to you and says that jenkins on floor 3 has a better premise for the project so you should shelf your idea completely and follow his because his previous ideas have sold well. That makes you feel good?
Rod Fergusson seems pretty okay with it
https://twitter.com/GearsViking
Re: above- Sure your hypothetical sucks, but you're leaving out the part that the premise that you've been handed is a storied franchise worth millions of dollars. You've been handed security and the reigns to a AAAA franchise.
Bottom line- we can go back and forth on this, we won't really know unless a tweet slips out or we get a post-mortem years from now.
https://twitter.com/GearsViking
Re: above- Sure your hypothetical sucks, but you're leaving out the part that the premise that you've been handed is a storied franchise worth millions of dollars. You've been handed security and the reigns to a AAAA franchise.
Bottom line- we can go back and forth on this, we won't really know unless a tweet slips out or we get a post-mortem years from now.
Goodacre0081
Member
it is exciting to know Gears will continue on but in the hands of MS and a new upstart studio?
buying the franchise was the easy part. making a great Gears of War game? shit, Epic was only 50/50 with that endeavor
Exactly how I feel at this point. There was so much excitement around that video. Especially after this:
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/11/29/microsoft-opens-new-video-game-studio-in-vancouver/
To pretend it was all a concept is a flat out lie. Makes me think all this happened quite recently. :/
Ol No Bones
Banned
This is really bad news. I love gears I really do but black tusk represented something new. This was a great time to fund and develop a new AAA IP. They really don't get it. I'm saying this as a gears fan. If gears is great fine but they need to reinvent the series anyway. They should have bought the series then whipped it out in 2016 or something out of nowhere because people might have been interested at that point. Its just sad. So far no first party confirmed new IP?