Gears of War dev Black Tusk rebrands as The Coalition

Black Tusk Studios, the developer behind the next Gears of War, has renamed itself The Coalition.

The rebrand was announced by studio boss Rod Fergusson via Xbox.com, where he said the new name “speaks to who we are as a team, and what it is we’re working on”.

He also pointed out the obvious connection to the Gears of War franchise, which sees players fighting on behalf of the Coalition of Ordered Governments.

“A coalition is a team of diverse individuals working together for a common purpose, a concept that we feel describes our studio quite well,” Fergusson wrote.

“When people hear 343 Industries, they associate it with Halo; when they hear Turn 10 Studios, they know that’s who makes Forza. Moving forward, when you hear The Coalition, we want you to think of Gears of War.”

Black Tusk was one of five new studios Microsoft opened in 2013. It was revealed the developer was working on the new Gears of War shortly after Microsoft acquired the franchise and all rights from series creator Epic Games.

Fergusson is one of several members of the team that have previously worked on Gears of War.