Microsoft grabs rights to Gears of War franchise

Microsoft Studios has acquired the rights to the “Gears of War” franchise from Epic Games, including rights to all existing and future games.

Black Tusk Studios, based in Vancouver BC, will take over development of the Gears of War franchise. Rod Fergusson, former Director of Production at Epic Games, will join Microsoft in a studio leadership role at Black Tusk.

As a key Xbox franchise, a new Gears of War game announcement is expected sometime in 2014. Epic Games will be licensing their Unreal Engine 4 technology to Microsoft for future development projects.