So Microsoft Vancouver is changing its name to Black Tusk Studios.
http://www.blacktuskstudios.com/
Black Tusk Studios is dedicated to creating immersive, AAA games that push the limits of Microsoft's entertainment platforms. Located in downtown Vancouver, Canada, we are part of the Microsoft Studios family, and weare growing. Do you have what it takes to keep pace with the best talent in the industry? Do you want to help define Microsoft'snext big entertainment franchise? Let's talk.
Black Tusk has assembled a team of seasoned game industry veterans who are united in their passion to create emotionally engaging AAA gaming experiences.
We hire the best talent from Vancouver and around the world, and our global recruiting effort is reflected in the diversity of cultures and backgrounds on our team.
Our people are talented, creative, fun-loving professionals with a desire to be part of something big. Something really big.
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/11/29/microsoft-opens-new-video-game-studio-in-vancouver/ While console video game companies have been shutting their Vancouver studios, a handful of Microsoft game developers have been quietly building a presence in Yaletown.
Today they are taking the wraps off the venture, which started with five people and grew to 55 before getting the official go-ahead from Microsoft’s head office to launch as a separate game studio, Black Tusk.
“It is a good news story for us,” said studio manager Mike Crump. “We’re excited about the opportunities here, we think Vancouver has a bright future.”
The launch should also spell good news forjobseekers in Vancouver’s hard-hit console video gamesector. Thedivision’s website, blacktuskstudios.com, includes job listings for everyone from engineers to designers, and Black Tusk plans to double its numbers within a year.
“We are actively recruiting,” said Crump, who added the studio has outgrown its Cambie Street location and will be moving to take over two floors on Beatty Street, where Microsoft’s Big Park studio is located.
Black Tusk had its start when Crump and four others, all alumni of Electronic Arts, took over a floor at Microsoft’s Cambie Street location about a year ago and started planning for the studio, which will focus on the Xbox 360 video game console.
Studio staff have an average of 12 years experience in triple-A games, the industry’s equivalent of Hollywood summer blockbuster movies — “big games, big teams, big budgets, long timelines,” said Crump.
“What that means is we are working on Microsoft’s next big entertainment franchise,” he said. “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 are building something from the ground up.”
The launch comes only a few months after Microsoft halted development of two games — Microsoft Flight and Project Columbia, a move that came shortly after announcements by Rockstar Vancouver and Radical Entertainment that they were closing their Vancouver operations.
Crump said the Black Tusk group wanted to operate in stealth mode until it recruited enough talent to reach critical mass and got the go-ahead from Microsoft head office.
“We have been officially green-lit by Microsoft executives to go ahead with the project that we’re on,” he said.
“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.”
Crump said Vancouver’s proximity to Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, headquarters is a factor but it is not the only attraction.
“First and foremost is its heritage, there is a history of gaming in Vancouver that goes back decades and what that has left us with is a pool of talent that is really unparalleled, I think, most anywhere in the world,” said Crump.
“And the last piece of it is — the reason we really believe in Vancouver is it’s such a great place to live that when we are going out and we’re recruiting, whether it’s California or Frankfurt, it is never a tough sell to convince somebody to move to Vancouver.”
Named for the iconic pinnacle between Vancouver and Whistler that attracts hikers, the studio is opening at a time when several video game companies have headed east to take advantage of more favourable tax credits in Toronto.
While Crump said he can’t comment on what other companies in the sector are doing, he noted that Microsoft has all its Canadian gaming studios in B.C.
“Tax credits, for sure, are a challenge here in Vancouver,” said Crump. “But Microsoft’s commitment to Vancouver goes way beyond tax credits.
“Microsoft has opened two studios in the Vancouver/ Victoria region this year and now there is investment in Black Tusk here in Vancouver, so there is a deep commitment to Vancouver and a belief in the potential of this region, what it can be in this space.”
So this is the dead space esque fps that was rumored when Microsoft studios Vancouver was first announced late last year. Now I'm wondering if microsoft other new studios (Victoria,london) will get proper names.
The game is also rumored to be working on Unreal 4 for the development of the game.
This is probably the 2nd next gen game microsoft is working on. It was rumored a while back that Ryse the kinect game being developed by crytek budapest was going through some changes hence why it wasn't shown at this year's e3. Among the changes were the development were transfered from budapest to Crytek's main team. Also it was rumored late last year that the game was taken away from being so dependent on kinect and being moved to next generation as well.
On this note I have one serious question for you guys after seeing this news on neogaf. Why do people seem to hate on microsoft? On gaf all I hear is people talking about wanting new ip's and when microsoft announces they are putting massive money toward new ip people complain that its a space fps and microsoft keeps making shooters.
Yet when you look at the number of games released Sony has actually released more shooters than microsoft have this generation. The only problem is that most of them have flopped in comparsion to the xbox being popular with Halo and Call of Duty.
Even at E3 microsoft showed off three new ip (matter, ascend new gods, and lococycle) yet people seem to discount XBLA as not counting toward anything.
I'm kind of hoping that Ryse is moved to being a third person game similar to the orginal pitch of that high voltage software gladiator game. The weird kinect first person mode could be an optional mode.
Also Rare seems to be working on cloud based kinect game.
http://www.oxm.co.uk/48015/rare-making-cloud-based-kinect-game-working-with-extremely-early-prototype-hardware/Will probably be related to some sort of cross platfrom console/windows 8/windows phone game. Really hoping they decide to go back to Perfect Dark and a make a dues ex style game in the vein of the orginal and a few of the levels from PD zero. That or another Kameo or Banjo game or at least something in the mascot platformer style of game.
Topic: XboxOne ~News/Rumor/Speculation~ Biggest Console Released This Gen!! (Read 791066 times)
