The formation of recrystallization texture has been studied in a sintered Ni-5 at.% W alloy after heavy cold rolling (∼95%) and annealing. Although the cold-rolled texture is a typical pure metal or Cu-type deformation texture on a global scale, variations in microstructure and microtexture are found in the deformed material between locally sheared regions and away those from these regions. The primary recrystallization texture consists of the cube ({1 0 0}〈0 0 1〉), a RD-rotated cube ({0 1 3}〈1 0 0〉) and twin-related orientations of these two components. The presence of both cube and the RD-rotated orientations are identified in thin bands of materials in the deformed matrix. However, predominantly cube-oriented grains nucleate and grow in regions away from the locally sheared regions. In contrast, the nucleation and growth of non-cube grains are observed in the vicinity of locally sheared regions. The formation of cube texture in Ni-5 at.% W alloy appears to occur primarily via the oriented nucleation of cube grains owing to the special properties of the cube bands. © 2009 Acta Materialia Inc.