So you think Epic would've put Gears on the PS4?

I think the IP has run its course, so sure, assuming MS paid a lot of money. But MS needs some IP brands, and GsoW is pretty established so it may be worth it for them.

ofcourse they wanted to drive the price up, question is how much more did it get them i doubt much more then microsoft was willing to pay before hand

I think they didn't create some rumor to get more money.

I assumed it would have cost around that.  It's also not that cheap if you think about it.  It took four games f or the series to reach 20 million.  Having no idea how many copies were sold at full MSRP, how many were sold during price drops etc, we'll just say that Epic got on average $10 each copy sold which is probably a bit high.  That's $200 million in profit in over seven years, where they just made $100 million just by giving up a license they have no more interest in.

Chances are it was a ms asked for another gears epic said no so ms asked if they could buy it

It is a little strange that there were strong rumours of Gears coming on PS4, and rumours of even the old Gears games coming out.

If MS make back their money paid, and get people to move to buy a XBO then it wasn't a waste, but if it has very little effect then yes they might have been played... but we won't really know.

Epic made a fantastic play here, no doubt about that. I think they were done with the franchise and wanted to move on. Being able to get value out of that situation is a fantastic business move.

Now, as far as Microsoft goes, we'll have to wait and see how the deal ends up for them.

1) Is the franchise really in decline? Do they have a creative plan to bring it back as good as new?

B) Is it worth the investment? We can't know that without knowing how much they paid. Even then, it's possible the move was made simply to bolster the Xbox One's position in the market, with Microsoft perfectly willing to accept a slight loss or a slight return.

The most likely scenario is that the next Gears will be a commercial success, though probably with somewhat of a decline. It will move a ton of units lifetime, though many will come over the course of the XO's life-cycle and at a reduced price (or even free). It's a win/win for both Microsoft and Epic, though I think Epic couldn't be happier with how this played out.

From a personal perspective, it's a win for me, as well. I wanted something new from Epic rather than the tail-end of Gears. I much, much, much prefer a new IP, especially since the first Gears games were unlikely to leave Microsoft.

I am also having a hard time thinking where they can go after GoW3. I'm sure MS will hype the shit out of it and make it a must buy for Xbox one.

ok, i haven't played any of the gears games but i don't only think this may be a good deal for epic, but i really think that it's a good deal for microsoft. gears is a well known ip, and the games sold good, right?
then why not buy into it and invest in the future of the ip?