Greg Mitchell has announced he is leaving his post at Epic Games to join Microsoft's new Vancouver studio, Black Tusk.

With nine years of experience at Epic Games, Mitchell was responsible for the direction of all cinematics in the popular shooter series from Gears of War 2 onwards.

He leaves the North Carolina based developer to join the startup studio Black Tusk, which is building the next game in the Gears of War series, following Microsoft's acquisition of the IP.

Since it was announced back in January 2014 that Microsoft had acquired the IP, little of the Gears of War project has been revealed, aside from one blurry teaser image. It is not known if Black Tusk will make an appearance at Microsoft's E3 press conference to showcase the project. Xbox exec Phil Spencer recently said the main focus for E3 will be the company's own first-party efforts, as well as new IP.

Although Cliff Bleszinski--an instrumental designer on the original trilogy--is not working on the new Gears of War game, Microsoft has hired veteran Gears of War producer Rod Fergusson to lead development.