3 key points from the Gears of War purchase

Gears of War is now property of Microsoft. That much was confirmed yesterday when it was revealed that franchise creator Epic Games had sold the IP along to pastures new. Black Tusk Studios, one of Microsoft's new first-party developers, has been tasked with bringing Gears of War back to its former glory and make it a game worth caring about again.

There's a lot of work to be done.

Here are three key points from the Gears of War acquisition.

Gears of War is still a massive money-maker for Microsoft

There had been a few rumours floating around that Gears of War could actually end up going multiplatform. Using a chainsaw against the evil Locust forces on a PlayStation 4? No way. Microsoft knows how important the franchise is to its fans and this latest move proves it. It comes second only to Halo on Xbox consoles and Microsoft just had to keep it exclusive.

Word on the street is that Microsoft paid less that $100million USD for the rights to Gears of War, and that's a good price for a franchise that sells millions of copies. Investing in first-party titles will be a major theme in the Xbox One and PS4 console war, and Microsoft has started off on the right foot.

Epic Games can now shift its focus to other projects

It was clear that Epic was growing a bit tired of Gears of War. It is a studio filled with talented developers, but how much more could they bring to the table? They released three Gears games, and then brought along Polish studio People Can Fly to work on a prequel that failed to move the story along at all. 

In the meantime, Cliff Bleszinski and Rod Fergusson, two of the biggest influences behind Gears of War, left Epic to pursue other ventures. Now the developer can pump all its resources into creating something entirely new, which is always welcome in an industry flooded with sequels.

Black Tusk could breath new life into stale franchise

And what will happen to Gears going forward? Well, Black Tusk Studios is new, but Rod Fergusson has joined the team to ensure it stays true to the fundamentals that made it such a hit with fans. That doesn't mean we can just expect more of the same though, and recent job advertisings from Black Tusk reveal that the studio is looking for a lead writer who can get players to feel "emotional engagement" with the characters.

That's a big deal when it comes to Gears, as the series isn't exactly known for its award-winning narrative. Maybe Black Tusk can finally get Gears of War to grow up and appeal to a whole new set of players, which can only be a good thing.