Cliff Bleszinski, one of the most popular and well-known game designers, announced that he will be departing Epic Games after having been with the company for 20 years.  This blog post on Epic’s official site details his leave, and it seems like Cliff is bowing out mainly just to take a break.

“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.”

CliffyB was mostly known for being the face of the Gears of War franchise, but he’s contributed to many of Epic’s projects, ranging from Jazz Jackrabbit to Unreal Tournament.