'Gears Of War 4' Rumors: Release Date Not In Near Future

Sorry, “Gears of War” fans. Vancouver, Canada-based Black Tusk Studios is in the process of developing an upcoming “Gears of War” title – but don’t hold your breath.

On Jan. 27, Microsoft acquired the popular sci-fi third-person shooter franchise from Rockville, Maryland-based Epic Games. It then handed the job of development to Black Tusk, formerly Microsoft Vancouver.

On Feb. 19, Microsoft Studios Corporate Vice President Phil Spencer talked about an upcoming “Gears of War” title on Twitter when another user asked for an “approximate release year.”

"Still working through plan," he tweeted. "I can say first original 'GoW' from BT has to reignite franchise and grow it, won't be a quick turn."

"And I believe we've built the right team to achieve that goal, I just want to give them the time," he added.

Last October, Spencer also spoke about revitalizing the well-known video game series to IGN when he brought up the future of the franchise in the disappointing aftermath of the March 2013 release of “Gears of War: Judgment.”

"I want to find a great ‘Gears’ game," he said. "I thought we did a good job with ‘Judgment,’ but I don't think it hit the level of quality we saw in the previous games. I think review scores showed that. Sales showed that. I really think we'd need to take a step back with Epic and think about ... I don't want to call it a reboot because I think it's an overused term but think about where that franchise goes and how to expand what it was."

Spencer also discussed where he would like to see the franchise go. “Maybe take it more gritty, I don't know. You'd want to do something with it, because I think it did run its course on 360. And it was a great success on the 360, but it doesn't quite have a story arc of a thing like ‘Halo’ or something, at least the way it's played out in the games."

Looks like this Xbox franchise may not see another sequel for a while. At least Xbox fans have "Titanfall" to look forward to next month!