Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it had acquired the rights to the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games. The next installment will be an Xbox One exclusive made by Black Tusk Studios. But Rod Fergusson, formerly of Epic Games, will be one of the people overseeing the project. One must ask the question, however, how will this ownership change affect the franchise? Gears of War: Judgment sold noticeably less copies compared to the other games in the series and some people feel it has to do with the game losing the identity of its predecessors.
The same could be said of 343 Industries and Halo 4. In the case of Halo 4, the game adopted a lot of features from other franchises and somewhat lost its core identity. Having a different development team without some of the most influential people who had shaped the universe since the beginning no doubt had an effect as well. But that's not to say that a new team and new vision can't turn a great franchise into an exceptional one. Will Microsoft and Black Tusk Studios be able to make a successful next Gears of War title or will they miss the mark?