Gears of War Cinematic Director Leaves Epic, Joins Microsoft

Were you shocked by Tai's demise? Dom's heartbreaking reunion with Maria? Or Dom's noble sacrifice for his friends? Save some tissues: Gears of War's cinematic director, Greg M. Mitchell, is working on the next one.

VentureBeat reports that Epic Games' cinematic director Greg M. Mitchell has parted ways with the company and is joining the Microsoft crew at Black Tusk Studio in working on the Xbox One debut of Gears of War. Mitchell was Epic's director of cinematics and video at Epic and we can thank him for all those tear-jerking scenes involving Marcus, Dom, Tai, Maria and Marcus' dad. Since Black Tusk has been reeling in previous developers on the Gears series for its cause, we have a strong feeling that Mitchell will be involved with the cinematics of the new Gears of War yet again. Microsoft is doing its best to make sure Gears' current-gen launch is unforgettable and redefines the series as it moves onto a new platform.

About a year and a half ago, Microsoft acquired the rights to the Gears of War series from Epic Games, giving the big M full control of the franchise. Microsoft then formed Black Tusk Studio in Vancouver to make the next Gears of War with former series director Rod Fergusson overseeing the project and in charge of the new studio. Microsoft has done something similar in acquiring the rights to the Halo series from Bungie to ensure that Master Chief stays under the house of Xbox.

Yesterday, we reported that Xbox head Phil Spencer revealed that his company's presentation at E3 2015 will be completely geared (pun intended) towards its first-party IPs. While no release date has been set, we have a feeling we won't be seeing Black Tusk's Gears of War entry for the Xbox One until well into 2016. Nevertheless, it's expected that Microsoft will showcase it at E3 2015 this June.