Before the Microsoft-owned studio changed their name from Black Tusk Studios to The Coalition, they were working on a new first-party game called Shangheist. After Microsoft purchased Gears of War from Epic Games and got the game’s executive producer and director of production Rod Fergusson to join them, Black Tusk Studios were given a choice to take over the franchise or continue working on Shangheist.
According to studio manager Mike Crump, Microsoft was willing to let them continue working on their teased game or work on a new game in the Gears of War franchise. Developers get attached to projects so it wasn’t an easy choice. Ultimately it came down to a vote that lead to the “no-brainer” of a decision. Crump added, “We went around the table and everybody was in favor of going for Gears of War”.
It’s great that Microsoft gave the new studio a choice on what they wanted to do rather than forcing them to work on a particular title. While working on a franchise like Gears of War is obviously a once in a lifetime opportunity, having the ability to make that decision is still very important.
When the Gears of War acquisition was initially announced, there were rumors that Microsoft forced the studio to adopt Gears of War but these rumors were completely unfounded. It was just supposed insiders and certain media outlets confabulating stories as always. I’m glad we finally have clarification on the matter and Microsoft let the developers choose what they wanted to do.
Source: GameZone
Asher Madan is a games journalist, former News Writer (Gaming) at Windows Central. They contributed 182 articles to ICXM in 2015, focused on Windows and PC, and Xbox news: joined Future plc’s Windows Central in 2017 covering Xbox news, hardware, and reviews.