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Spencer: Black Tusk E3 '13 teaser was "a concept piece", not a in-dev game

Wait a sec, I remember that too. There was at least one CBOAT post giving specific claims about the development process of that game; how they had hit hitches early on, then got their stride and he was impressed with what he was seeing.

What's going on here?

From what I can tell Black Tusk was working on a new stealth-based IP that Cboat saw some of behind closed doors and was impressed by. We got that E3 trailer about it and now it looks like Black Tusk has been repurposed to create the next gears game instead :(
 
Eh, fable is dying a bit. I can definitely see lionhead trying to maake their next big thing after legends is released.

I'm sure they'd like to but will MS actually let them. At this point I've lost all trust in anything anyone at MS says. Spencer was one of the last with credibility and that's gone now too
 
Wait, WHAT?

That's complete BS. It was obviously a game, down to the fact that Phil himself was saying he wished they hadn't shown it in such an early stage post E3. This is bullshit. It's not like we have many games in the stealth genre as it is and now we've just lost another one. One that had amazing animation and sound...
 

badb0y

Member
Wait, WHAT?

That's complete BS. It was obviously a game, down to the fact that Phil himself was saying he wished they hadn't shown it in such an early stage post E3. This is bullshit. It's not like we have many games in the stealth genre as it is and now we've just lost another one. One that had amazing animation and sound...
Agreed. But I like Gears so I don't know.
 

Ulumsk

Member
Back to not being all that fussed that Xbone doesn't have a tier 2 launch date yet. Dead Rising and Zoo Tycoon are neat, but I need something else that's not another scifi military shooter.
 

Kydd BlaZe

Member
This is awesome news! Then again, I've always been a huge Gears fan.

I was a bit worried about the future of the Gears franchise, after the mediocre Judgment and with all of the recent departures at Epic, but I'm super curious about what Black Tusk can bring to the table. They sound like a very talented studio, and I'm much more interested in a Gears sequel from these guys than the PCF guys.

I know it sucks for a lot of folks here that were looking forward to a new IP, however I'm just happy to have confirmation that Gears of War is returning, and helmed by a new AAA studio to boot.
 

Gorillaz

Member
btusk inst not that B!g. teh spygam WAS REAAL.
preriod.
n itwa$ good.

IT was definitely a new IP coming out. They were talking up BT and it's "ideas" all summer and for them to just end up being a Gears Factory is completely out of nowhere

LIke I said, at one point I think they were meant to be MS's Naughty Dog in regards to action adventure AAA titles
 

El-Suave

Member
I may draw conclusions from my own feelings, but I tink people are at least as done with Gears as they are with the God of War franchise for the immediate future. A new franchise might have helped MS to attract new customers and get rid of their console's stigma as a Halo/Gears machine.
 
From what I can tell Black Tusk was working on a new stealth-based IP that Cboat saw some of behind closed doors and was impressed by. We got that E3 trailer about it and now it looks like Black Tusk has been repurposed to create the next gears game instead :(

CBOAT primarily praised the tech though, I don't think we ever heard a peep about gameplay from anyone.

Edit: I stand corrected based on CBOAT's latest
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
So either Microsoft was lying last summer or they're lying now. Go figure.
 
Why is he lying?

Damage control. It sounds better to say it was a concept instead of "We didn't believe in their vision, Gears sells better and so on". Saying that MS feels it would be better for Black Tusk to work on Gears then their own IP doesn't exactly signal super confidence in the development, and could easily be misunderstood. So doing this doesn't sound terrible in the public.
 

Reallink

Member
Wasn't Blacktusk built from a lot of poached high profile talent? I don't think those tentpole leads are going to be too happy about being a Gears factory as I assume MS probably promised creative freedom on a big budget new IP.
 

chadskin

Member
Wasn't Blacktusk built from a lot of poached high profile talent? I don't think those tentpole leads are going to be too happy about being a Gears factory as I assume MS probably promised creative freedom on a big budget new IP.

I'm sure superannuation will be watching LinkedIn CV over the coming months. ;)
 

Codeblue

Member
Damage control. It sounds better to say it was a concept instead of "We didn't believe in their vision, Gears sells better and so on". Saying that MS feels it would be better for Black Tusk to work on Gears then their own IP doesn't exactly signal super confidence in the development, and could easily be misunderstood. So doing this doesn't sound terrible in the public.

If they were going to lie they should have come up with something we couldn't easily disprove with a Google search.They could have just said that they're still working on the other project and wait for people to forget about it or lose hope.
 
If they were going to lie they should have come up with something we couldn't easily disprove with a Google search.They could have just said that they're still working on the other project and wait for people to forget about it or lose hope.

Totally agree, it's not the smartest comments they've made in regards to it. But I think they're also very much aware that is a minimal percentage of people that will be aware of the killed spy game.
 
So Black Tusk were early into development working on some Splinter Cell-esque game, but then later down the line Microsoft acquired the rights to Gears of War and the BT guys were put to work on that franchise instead.

Reading you loud and clear Spencer.
 
So Black Tusk were early into development working on some Splinter Cell-esque game, but then later down the line Microsoft acquired the rights to Gears of War and the BT guys were put to work on that franchise instead.

Reading you loud and clear Spencer.

For all we know it could be on hold for the future.
 

coolasj19

Why are you reading my tag instead of the title of my post?
Wasn't Blacktusk built from a lot of poached high profile talent? I don't think those tentpole leads are going to be too happy about being a Gears factory as I assume MS probably promised creative freedom on a big budget new IP.
I want to know who makes these decisions. I've been getting excited about famousmortimers "people are getting replaced wholesale in Xbox division"
quote may be inaccurate
line. But this looks like same ole Microsoft. Mistreating the talent and shackling them to franchises. Let them breath some...

The only way I'd personally like this new Gears game is if they changed it so much it wasn't Gears anymore. Maybe we have a Guerilla Cambridge situation in our hands. Maybe the new IP will come back in... 3-5 years?

Yeah, I suspect they'll be some vacancies on the office building.
If they were going to lie they should have come up with something we couldn't easily disprove with a Google search.They could have just said that they're still working on the other project and wait for people to forget about it or lose hope.
That would have gone 1 of 2 ways.
The Last Guardian
Or
The Agent
 
So Black Tusk were early into development working on some Splinter Cell-esque game, but then later down the line Microsoft acquired the rights to Gears of War and the BT guys were put to work on that franchise instead.

Reading you loud and clear Spencer.
After spending 100 million on a franchise, you have to imagine one would want quick returns. Building a new studio wouldn't do that for you. It sucks that we lose a new IP but can you say MS made an awful decision at this point?
 
Hmm..

ZezSK2r.png
 
Maybe, just don't expect to see it for a good few years if it is.

I honestly don't even know about that anymore

Phil Spencer said:
"The thing we showed at E3 last year, it was something that was done in Unreal and more of a concept piece," Spencer said, calling it "an asset" created by the team to get their creative juices flowing, not necessarily an in-development game.

Doesn't sound like MS is simply shelving it until gears 4 is ready :(


All right I don't know how to feel anymore gaf!

emotions-troy.gif
 
After spending 100 million on a franchise, you have to imagine one would want quick returns. Building a new studio wouldn't do that for you. It sucks that we lose a new IP but can you say MS made an awful decision at this point?

From my own personal viewpoint, they made a bad decision. Looking past the fact that I have zero interest in GoW, the series doesn't seem to be on an upward trajectory after the subpar commercial performance of Judgment. Besides, could they not have put a team on it that wasn't pre-occupied with a project that had already been shown at E3?

At the very least, don't outright lie and say that the footage was "a concept piece." We all know that wasn't the case. I'd have some respect for the guy if he was honest about things and said "you know what, this is the safer option, the other game is cancelled, sorry folks."
 
Welp, the BOAT has spoken. I guess at best we can hope for the new IP after the next Gears, though by then Black Tusk will have to be a two team studio as I don't see them putting Gears off for a whole cycle.
 
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