Perhaps it's not a major surprise as Ron Gilbert has been sort of freelancing in this industry, that he would depart from Double Fine Productions after completing The Cave. In a blog post the veteran game designer noted:
"Now that The Cave is done and unleashed on an unsuspecting world (ok, we did do a bunch of PR, so it wasn't exactly unsuspecting), it's time for me to move on from Double Fine and plot my next move.
So many games left to be designed.
I want to thank all the amazing people at Double Fine for all their hard work on The Cave. It was a true pleasure to work with every one of them over the past two years. So much fun. I will miss them all. And of course to Tim for creating the opportunity to come there and make The Cave."
His next move, well apparently he's involved in an iOS project with
Clayton Kauzlaric (DeathSpank, Voodoo Vince) called "Scurvy Scallywags in The Voyage to Discover the Ultimate Sea Shanty: A Musical Match-3 Pirate RPG" - yup, Apple's approval machinery is going to love that title.