They handed the reins of the franchise over to Black Tusk Studios, which would go on to rename themselves The Coalition (a reference to in-game mythology, following the trend of official Halo developer 343 Industries). In January 2014, Microsoft officially purchased the rights to the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games, officially becoming an internal, first-party property. On the way, they do manly things like blowing stuff up, delivering one-liners and growing beards.
Alongside that, the games are about building atmosphere and drawing you into the moment, investigating abandoned warehouses and exploring a labyrinth of underground tunnels. Besides dealing with the humanoid footsoldiers there is a great deal of focus on monstrous creatures you have to face such as the dinosaur-like Brumak (with a cannon on its back and chainguns on each arm), the crab/spider-like Corpser and the 'monkey-dog' Wretch.
