Microsoft has acquired the ‘Gears of War’ franchise from Epic Games.This includes the rights to all existing and future games, entertainment experiences and merchandise.
“Epic Games has reached an agreement to sell the ‘Gears of War’ intellectual property rights to Microsoft. 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,” said Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney.
Development for the series will be handled by Microsoft Studios’ Vancouver-based subsidiary Black Tusk Studios.
“The “Gears of War” franchise has a very strong, passionate and valued fan base on Xbox. Over twenty-two million units have been sold across all “Gears of War” titles worldwide, grossing over $1B dollars (US)”, Phil Spencer said.
Former series producer Rod Fergusson will be joining Black Tusk to “play a key studio leadership role” on the franchise.
