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Cole Train's voice actor contacted for next Gears of War
Black Tusk Studios is tinkering away at the Gears of War series' future, but Twitter activity from Augustus "Cole Train" Cole voice actor Lester Speight suggests the former hero might be involved in the action. Speight confirmed that he had been contacted regarding the next entry in the series, though what that initial contact will amount to, if anything, remains to be seen. For now, we'll have to reluctantly guard our hopes for hearing Cole's enthusiasm on the battlefield once more. The Gears series' Lancers have gone quiet since last year's Gears of War: Judgment, a prequel to Epic Games' trilogy that was co-developed by Epic Games Poland (formerly known as People Can Fly). Black Tusk hasn't offered a glimpse of its continuation yet, but we do know that Xbox Live's former director of policy and enforcement, Stephen Toulouse, has joined the team to serve as director of community engagement. [Image: Microsoft Studios]
Stephen Toulouse joins Black Tusk Studios' Gears of War team
Stephen Toulouse had worked with Microsoft for 17 consecutive years before he left in February 2012 for "complex and personal" reasons, eventually landing at third-party peripheral creator GAEMS in July of that year. A recent episode of the Major Nelson Radio podcast notes that Toulouse was at one point also at HBO Code Labs, with "was" serving as the key word: Toulouse has now left that position to serve as Black Tusk Studios' Director of Community Engagement for the Gears of War series. Toulouse explains his return a bit further on his blog, stressing that he's a "gamer first and foremost," and that Black Tusk's request to help with a series that Toulouse is personally passionate about was too good to pass up. Toulouse tweeted about his new title as well, describing his role on the team as "key in coordinating gamer feedback into future titles as well as keeping things fun and exciting with existing ones." If you think that's an open invitation to message Toulouse with your hopes for the Gear franchise, well ... it kind of is. Toulouse's blog asks fans to reach out to the Gears of War and Black Tusk Twitter accounts, or to his personal handle. Emails are also welcomed at stepto (at) stepto (dot) com. Whichever channel you use, Toulouse hopes to hear about "everything you like, dislike, want, don't want and hope for" concerning the Gears universe, and while he can't promise a response to every single one, Toulouse adds that "all thoughts will be entertained." [Image: Stephen Toulouse]
Microsoft Vancouver is now Black Tusk Studios, building 'the next Halo'
Microsoft Studios Vancouver has been rebranded as Black Tusk Studios, and the team is tasked with creating Microsoft's "next big entertainment franchise," or as the layman says it, "the next Halo."Black Tusk has 55 employees and looks to double that number within a year; those already there have an average of 12 years experience building AAA games. This includes studio manager and former EA man, Mike Crump."We are working on Microsoft's next big entertainment franchise," Crump tells The Vancouver Sun. "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."Microsoft laid off a small number of people in Vancouver earlier this year, but said it remains invested in the British Columbia games industry. If it's pouring enough money to build another Halo franchise into Black Tusk, we'd say Microsoft is heavily invested, indeed.
