Black Tusk Studios

Black Tusk Studios
Subsidiary of Microsoft Studios
Industry Video game development
Headquarters Vancouver, Canada
Key people
 Rod Fergusson (studio manager)
Owner Microsoft Studios
Number of employees
 100+
Website Official website

Black Tusk Studios, formerly Microsoft Vancouver, is video game development studio owned by Microsoft in Vancouver, Canada.[1] The studio changed its name in November 2012 and was tasked with creating a major franchise for Microsoft to rival their popular Halo franchise.[2] Prior to its name change, the studio was working on Microsoft Flight and a Kinect game.[3]

It was announced on January 27, 2014 that Microsoft had acquired the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games and that Black Tusk would be tasked with developing future games in the series.[4][5] As part of the Gears of War acquisition, Microsoft also hired Rod Fergusson, who was the executive producer and director of production on the first three Gears of War games at Epic, to oversee development at Black Tusk.[6] It's unknown what happened to the new franchise that the studio was developing before the Gears of War acquisition.[3]

Games developed

Title Publisher Platform
Untitled Gears of War video game Microsoft Studios Xbox One

References

  1. ↑ Shaw, Gillian (Nov 29, 2012). "Microsoft opens new video game studio in Vancouver". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved Jan 16, 2013.
  2. ↑ Hafer, T.J. (Nov 30, 2012). "Microsoft’s new Black Tusk Studios, headed by ex-EA devs, looking to make the next Halo". PC Gamer. Retrieved Jan 16, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lien, Tracey (28 January 2014). "The mystery of Black Tusk's 'next big entertainment franchise'". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "Microsoft Studios acquires rights to Gears of War franchise" (Press release). Microsoft. January 27, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  5. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (Jan 27, 2014). "Microsoft acquires Gears of War from Epic, hires series producer Rod Fergusson". Polygon. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  6. ↑ Hicks, Jon (13 September 2014). "Epic streak: Rod Fergusson on bringing Gears of War to Xbox One". Official Xbox Magazine. Future plc. Retrieved 11 October 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Black Tusk Studios.