Cliff Bleszinski not involved with new Gears of War

Despite a deluge of fan emails, tweets and other messages, Cliff Bleszinski has confirmed that he will not be working on the next Gears of War game.

The news broke yesterday that Microsoft has acquired the franchise and its rights from Epic Games, handed development to Black Tusk studios and brought back series producer Rod Fergusson.

Shortly after, Bleszinski posted on his blog, emphasising that he will not be involved with the project.

"To be honest, I don’t think the franchise could be in better hands," he wrote. "Heck, Rod’s Twitter handle to this day is ‘Gears Viking’. Gears is just as much Rod’s baby as it was mine. He’ll take good care of her."

Below, in bold text, he wrote: "I’m not going to move to Vancouver and work on it. I’m not going to consult on it."

Bleszinski thanked Gears fans for their support over the years, and added that this news has "steeled my resolve to make something entirely new".

Black Tusk Studios is currently seeking an online engineer and lead writer for its first Gears of War title.