The new Vancouver-based studio has big plans for its actual project

Nov 30, 2012 19:21 GMT  ·  By

Black Tusk studios, the developer formerly known as Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver, will be working on the company's next big franchise, as its manager, Mike Crump, explains that the new property will rival Halo in scope.

Microsoft owns not just quite a few video game franchises, but also a variety of studios all around the world, from 343 Industries to Lionhead, Rare, or Turn 10 Studios, with the latest being set up in Vancouver, in the form of Black Tusk studios.

We already heard the team's mission statement, which is to work on big AAA games alongside Microsoft's other worldwide studios.

Now, Black Tusk manager Mike Crump has told the Vancouver Sun about the current project of the developer, which is the next big franchise for Microsoft.

"We are working on Microsoft’s next big entertainment franchise," Crump 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."

According to Crump, he and his team have worked on the project for some time now and officially pitched the idea recently to Microsoft's gaming executives.

"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."

As of yet, Black Tusk hasn't mentioned just what this project might be but the studio is, however, hiring lots of experienced developers to work on it so, if you're interested, you should get in touch with the Vancouver-based studio.