Gears of War might have a new home at Black Tusk Studios, but Epic Games is still very interested in bringing new games to next-generation platforms. Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney will be pushing for new, yet-to-be-established IP to fill the void left by Marcus and the crew, including the previously announced Fortnite.
"We're very proud of the franchise we built in close partnership with Microsoft over the past decade and are happy that this agreement enables Microsoft to forge ahead with the Gears universe on their industry-leading platforms as Epic concentrates its efforts on new projects," Sweeney said. "Epic remains totally dedicated to supporting Xbox One and is licensing the Unreal Engine 4 technology to Microsoft in support of their future projects."
Epic's former director of production Rod Fergusson has moved on to Black Tusk to help build the next Gears of War, so don’t think that everything is changing all at once.
Black Tusk has been positioned by Microsoft as the next big first-party studio, as a recent job posting revealed.
“We are looking for a seasoned storyteller who can help us bring Microsoft’s next big IP to life,” the description reads. “This individual will help us develop the characters, story arc, emotional tone, pacing, dialogue, and flavor of a story that will shape the spirit of this new franchise.”
Look to hear more on the latest Gears of War soon.