You may not have realised it, but up until this morning there was a chance that the next instalment in the Gears of War franchise could appear on the PlayStation 4. Despite the series remaining exclusive to the Xbox 360 across all four of its previous instalments, the property was actually owned by independent outfit and Unreal Engine creator Epic Games throughout. That’s changed today, however, as Microsoft has purchased the rights to the brand.
The platform holder has revealed that its new Black Tusk team will begin developing a new Xbox One entry, with former director Rod Fergusson adopting a “key studio leadership role”. The specifics regarding the acquisition are perhaps better suited to our sister site Pure Xbox, so pop over there for more information. You can also read the Redmond-based manufacturer’s full statement through here.
While it’s hard to miss what you never had, we had secretly harboured some hope that Marcus Fenix and crew may fire onto Sony’s next generation system at some point. Still, with speculation suggesting that Epic Games had no plans to further the franchise, we suppose that this deal makes sense for Microsoft. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t pull the same stunt with Titanfall, which it doesn’t actually own either.
[source news.xbox.com]
Comments 40
I could never get into this series when I had my 360. It was one of a few MS exclusives that I just found boring and tedious (hi Halo!), hence why I jumped to the Sony side!
@Dodoo I only played the first one, too. I think the shooting's fun, but the boneheaded characters and art style don't really do much for me. I guess this is probably a decent get for Microsoft, but seeing how Epic clearly thought the franchise was done, they're going to have to work hard to rejuvenate it.
@get2sammyb - I'd love to know how much this and Titanfall cost MS to keep as an exclusive, as I'm sure these would have sold well on PS3/PS4 and would have thought MS would effectively pay the devs for those lost sales?
Either way I definitely prefer Sony's GoW series!
Love the series, perhaps my favorite ever. Disappointing, but I have both platforms so I won't be missing out.
BTW, constructive feedback time: the character's last name is spelled "Fenix."
Would be nice if Pure Xbox actually posted a story more than once or twice per week. The place feels dead.
@GooRoo Thanks for the heads up on the character name. My weak Xbox knowledge shining through there.
Played Gears at uni on my friend xbox, for a hour. Turnt it off and never want to go near that series again. Awful, awful characters and dialogue
Hopefully Epic will use the money to make Bulletstorm 2
Not bothered, never played the series so not gonna miss it.
Couldn't care less really. There are enough brilliant games on the PlayStation Brand to keep me happy + the Series was over hyped just because it was a Xbox 360 Exclusive anyway & it gave CliffyB a massive head to thinking he was a God
no big loss they were boring and generic shootfests
Gears was actually my first "ahh glorious next-gen" moment on xb360 so I do have a soft spot for it. Similarly, COD MW first gave me that feeling on ps3. Will never forget that.
Swimming up stream me thinks. Its hardly going to create a sales surge. Meh.
@GooRoo im with you there man on both gears and purexbox..also I own both systems because as a gamer I refuse to miss out on any good games lol.
No big lose, I played the first and 2nd one and though some of gameplay was fun, the experience was short and the games seemed almost pointless Microsoft can have the series, they need something other than just Halo.
Well at least with Titanfall, they -want- to be multiplatform.
Oh no, what 3rd person shooter will us PlayStation fans play now? Besides Uncharted, Planetside 2 and The Order: 1886, of course.
So who cares really. Played the 1st and the 2nd, its basically MICHAEL BAY XY movie in the gaming world. Lots of spectacle, little substance.
The first one was great, and the multiplayer was a lot of fun, but the series got progressively worse until it became worthless with Judgment. Seriously, you guys aren't missing much.
I got the first one as part of XBLA free for gold promotion, it was ok and fun but honestly I dont see the hype surrounding it. It wasn't a bad game just not great like everyone says it is.
Gears of Bore more like.
Give me another proper Space Marine game!
@GooRoo I wouldn't expect much out of them. The Editor-in-Chief hasn't got a clue.
I honestly think ms have wasted their money. They could have made something brand new and exciting. Silly.
The series was great at it time but I have already moved on from it after judgement. I just hope the rumors turns out true that sony got the rights of crash bandicoot.
I really liked the gears games but I would sooner play uncharted than gears of war
@Bliquid I thought it was Socom that recreated the TPS concept as we know it.
Gear of war is the first to use Cover system as far I can tell, and so the first gear is very special for me
Too bad I can't say that for Second and third so I'm not missing anything not playing this
Regardless of how some may feel about this series- I enjoy these games- this is a big announcement as this series does sell consoles. I guess it was a long shot anyway that the next Gears would end up on PS4 but I was holding out hope. This is another big announcement from MS though, and Sony still can't sort out when a freaking first party racing game that was supposed to be a day one title will launch. Get it together, cut down on the indie stuff, announce some big AAA retail games that actually take advantage of this $400 powerhouse hardware, buy some damn third party exclusives and put up the cash Acitivision wants for Crash Bandicoot already. All I keep from Sony is 'we have games,' all I keep seeing from MS is new game announcements. MS is killing it right now and even Nintendo has been more active on the spending front. If Sony doesn't want to be facing another whole generation of chasing the competition it better wake up. We're fortunate that early third party games seem to be taking more advantage of PS4's hardware, that will change if PS4 numbers start dipping below 2013 Wii U numbers and with no games, that's possible.
So pessimistic. Why do you need game announcements anyway? Be patient. The PS4'S been out for only like 2 months. The reason Microsoft is announcing some games, its honestly probably gonna do the worst out of the 3. The Ps4 is already successful, Sony doesn't need to rush games out. I want them to take their time.
I watched roughly two play through episodes on youtube, then decided to just watch all the cutscenes instead. That was enough for me. Don't feel like I missed much. I know it's not the same as playing the game, but I was not buying an xbox for Gears.
@Gamer83 There's no need to be worried about Sonys first party offerings. Yes the PS4 might be encountering a drought but what new console doesn't. Look at the ps3, especially as of late, and remind yourself of how great Sonys offerings are. If you have an issue with post launch droughts then its best to not buy for quite some time and enjoy the continued ps3 support. I don't think there's any reason right now to believe the PS4 is in trouble.
@Gamer83: I think the reason we keep hearing more news on Xbox One games is that as of right now Sony is in a comfortable position, in sales they are at least 1 million units over Xbox One the last time I check. Plus MS hurt its rep big time with the whole DRM always online fiasco. To me it seems like all the game announcements for Xbox One are sort of a damage control tactic by MS. We know the games are coming for PS4 people are satisfied with their systems Sony doesn't need to continuous to convince people why to by one like MS does.
@Gamer83 You are always thinking the worst case scenario will happen. Calm down, the Ps4 is in fantastic position. Why shoot you ammunition now instead of the E3 or some big event where everybody is watching you?
@Sanquine
If one, maybe two announcements is shooting your ammunition, you have to wonder how good position you're really in. All I'm saying is, it wouldn't hurt to throw another game out there. I'd love to see Resistance 4 or, even better, a brand new exclusive IP from Insomniac like MS is getting.
Pitty, I love Gears 1 and 2...Gears one was my first real "holy crap, this is next gen"-game. Not only the graphics which blew everything else out of the water, but mostly the fantastic co-op experience the game offered. Completing the whole game together with my buddy was an awesome, very enjoyable thing I didn't experience on any system before.
I would've loved to see the series on PS4, but I'll most probably buy an X1 anyway in a few years, because I want to play Halo, so...
And as has been stated here, it's not like Sony hasn't have enough kick-ass franchises of their own.
I played the first Gears on 360 and I didn't think it was that good, that said I worked with a guy who was obsessed with the series.
Update: May 2017. Have played Gears again and now see it for the excellent game that it is.
@KALofKRYPTON Oh yes, bring it on! I quite enjoyed Space Marine and I love the 40k universe...just reading through the Horus Heresy series.
The Emperor protects!
Gears of war never intrigued me...not really fussed. I've never touched an xbox and as others have said- you don't miss what you never had. It would have been nice if all the people who switched to the PS4 and left the Xbox 1 alone could have been able to continue to play the series.
@Reverend_Skeeve Indeed!
Used prefer playing Epic in me yoof, much better than 40k.
Space Marine was awesome, more of the same with plenty Gene Stealers, Elder and Tau would be pretty amazing. If they went the route of the recent Transformers Cybertron games with the sense of scale it could be truly epic!
Gears is boring, admittedly only played 2. My brother had it and was raving. I played for about an hour, dull, dull, dull.
@KALofKRYPTON I never played the tabletop games, sadly...I got hooked on the 40k universe on the novels alone...fun read.
But I agree...jus' give us moar Warhammer...the spiced up hardware of the PS4 could really make the enormous, gothic architecture shine! Hope we'll get something.
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