Xbox One Gears of War Developer Changes Name to 'The Coalition'

Black Tusk Studios, the Microsoft-owned developer currently working on the next game in the Gears of War series, has changed its name to "The Coalition," the developer has announced.

"In short, The Coalition speaks to who we are as a team, and what it is we're working on," studio head Rod Fergusson said in a statement. "A coalition is a team of diverse individuals working together for a common purpose, a concept that we feel describes our studio quite well. Fans will also recognize the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) from Gears of War lore."

Fergusson said that moving forward, when you hear the name The Coalition, he wants players to think of Gears of War, just as players think of Halo when they hear developer 343 Industries' name.

The announcement comes two weeks before E3, and we've already heard pretty convincing rumors that the studio is working on an HD remaster of the first Gears of War game. Last month, a Brazilian game rating body listed a game called Gears of War: Ultimate Edition with a 2015 release date.

Microsoft acquired the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games last year, putting its internal team Black Tusk Studios to work on a new entry in the action-shooter series for Xbox One. That project is separate from the reported remaster.

As for when Microsoft may officially announce the Gears of War HD Remaster, and maybe Black Tusk's new project, Fergusson previously teased that fans should tune in to E3 in June. For its part, Microsoft has said its E3 presentation this year will focus on first-party games.