14 DAY TRIAL // Stephen Toulouse, one of the veterans of the Xbox Live service from Microsoft, announces that he is joining Black Tusk Studios at the moment and that he will become the new community engagement director for the team that is working on a new title in the franchise for the Xbox One home console.
The developer has left Microsoft in early 2012 in order to experience new challenges and has since then worked at the HBO Code Labs.
On his official site, he states, “But I am a gamer first and foremost. Have been since I was five. Will be when I shuffle off this mortal coil at the cyber enhanced ripe old age of 120. And in that moment at age 120 I will ‘still’ remember exactly where I was when I first saw this. I don’t know a console gamer who doesn’t remember that incredible introduction to the world of Gears of War. I was hooked. I was sold. That was a day one purchase for me.”
Toulouse then talks about the solid experience he has had with the cooperative and the competitive multiplayer of Gears of War and explains that it was impossible to refuse the offer that he got from the leadership of Black Tusk Studios.
He adds, “I’ve been shadowing the Gears forums and looking at people’s thoughts. I don’t just want us to make the best next generation Gears of War game ever, I want to make sure that everyone playing the game today feels just as good today and down the road in their investment into our amazing world as we do. There’s a Gears nation out there. I’m a part of it and it’s amazing.”
The developer encourages all fans to continue talking on the forums about the series and the elements that make it unique and to contact him directly if they want to pass a message to Black Tusk Studios.
Stephen Toulouse believes that only if the entire Gears of War community comes together, they can create an Xbox One video game that keeps its defining elements while pushing it into the future of gaming.
The original creators of the series are the team at Epic Games, but they have decided to sell it to Microsoft because they were unable to work on a new title given their commitment to the Unreal Engine 4 long-term development process.
Black Tusk Studios has not offered any details on the experience that it is currently working on.