Last night Epic Games, the studio behind Gears of War, announced that Cliff Bleszinski had left the company to "chart the next stage of his career."
In a post on the Epic Games website, several senior voices from the company lavished praise on the departing employee.
Tim Sweeney, Epic's founder and CEO, said: "In 20 wonderful years with Epic, Cliff Bleszinski has grown into a true design luminary, and his contributions to the ‘Unreal' and ‘Gears' series have helped shape the game industry into what it is today."
"Cliff leaves Epic with our gratitude for his many contributions, and our wishes for continued success in the next chapter of his life!"
The sentiment was echoed by President Dr. Michael Capps, who added: "In my 10 years of working with Cliff, his passion for creating video games of the highest quality has been unflinching. We are grateful for all of his hard work, and remain committed to making our fans happy and to always raising the bar in everything we do at Epic."
Also included in the announcement was an excerpt from a note written by Bleszinski to his fellow colleagues:
"I've been doing this since I was a teenager, and outside of my sabbatical last year, I have been going non-stop. I literally grew up in this business, as Mike likes to say. And now that I'm grown up, it's time for a much needed break.
I will miss the projects, the playtests, the debates, and most importantly, the people. Epic only hires the best of the best, and it has been a joy working with each and every one of you on a daily basis, whether you were hired weeks ago or decades ago. I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with a variety of disciplines, from code to art to marketing and PR - it's been one big, rewarding learning experience. I'm confident that each project that is being built, whether at Epic, Chair, PCF, or Impossible will be top notch and will please gamers and critics alike."
Bleszinski has had an hand in shaping some of the definitive games of the last decade, influencing series such as Unreal Tournament and Gears of War. We wish him well in his future endeavors.