Microsoft Vancouver Renamed, Working on New AAA Franchise - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 29 November 2012 / 7,312 ViewsMicrosoft has renamed its Vancouver studio to Black Tusk Studios. The studio currently has 55 employees and is hiring more staff. The biggest is that the studio will be working on the next big AAA exclusive franchise for the Xbox.
"Being a first-party studio at Microsoft means having both the mandate and the opportunity to think and act big," read the studio's official website. "All of Microsoft’s studios share the same commitment to innovation and quality, along with support from a world-class global marketing, sales, and distribution organization."
"As part of the Microsoft Studios family, Black Tusk is able to leverage resources, technology, and experience from other first-party studios such as 343 Industries, Turn 10 Studios, Rare, Lionhead Studios, Good Science Studio and Twisted Pixel Games."
Studio manager Mike Crump, speaking with The Vancouver Sun, is looking at building the next Halo. "We are working on Microsoft’s next big entertainment franchise. We’re not working on an existing franchise, we’re looking to build the next Halo here in Vancouver, for example, which is really exciting."
"We have been officially green-lit by Microsoft executives to go ahead with the project that we’re on. That’s the way game development works — it’s just like making a movie, you go through pitching and concepting and then at some point you have a very large meeting with the executive team and present your full pitch with the business plan and you get the green light, so that’s happened for us."
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Lets cross our fingers and hope that this is not a kinect game.
Interesting...Hope they got something good cause MS desperately needs another flagship title.
Black Tusk Studios, I like it. Sounds like it'll cater to the older-teen market, and that's a good thing.
If I had my druthers it would be an FPS for the next gen xbox to compete with Call of Duty.
I doubt it's going to be a kinect game since he said it would be AAA.
A coD killer I'm sure. CoD's are so weak and so successful at the same time that I'm wondering every day why nobody outperformed this series ! There's a big opportinity, just make an awesome looking game with human weapons (not awful futuristic/alien lasers) with a lot of firing noise and that's it/hit.
You just described Battlefield 3, and it did not out perform CoD sales-wise
How can they say they're working on a AAA franchise if it's a new IP? Surely you'd have to wait for the reviews before you class it as one. They also seem to be getting confused with their new IP and Halo 5.
AAA has nothing to do with rating. AAA is just a budget.
I believe he is talking about the use of the word 'franchise', if the game is a complete and utter flop then there will be no further installments in the IP and thus no franchise.
Lets cross our fingers and hope that this is not a kinect game.
Hopefully not another FPS/shooter. Il buy a next box if they actually have game verity next time around. If its just shooters like the 360 il pass.
lol you would pass with that username.
Sales, you can't judge a player on his username or avi you silly duck.
How about his massive biased against the 360 HappyD? can we judge based on that?! I'm fairly sure I've seen a game or two on the 360 that isn't a shooter :o