Now that Double Fine Productions has finished work on its adventure title The Cave, game designer Ron Gilbert says it’s time for him to move on from the indie studio and plot his next move.
Gilbert was hired by Double Fine founder Tim Schafer in September 2010. The pair previously worked on classic point-and-click adventure games such as Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island for LucasArts in the ’80s and ’90s.
“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,” Gilbert writes on his Grumpy Gamer blog. “So much fun. I will miss them all. And of course to Tim for creating the opportunity to come there and make The Cave.”
Tim Schafer wished Gilbert well on Twitter. “Sad to say @grumpygamer feels like it’s time to spread his grumpy wings and fly. Good luck, Ron! Thanks for The Cave!”
This is not the first time Gilbert has departed from a studio after launching a title. He joined Hothead Games as its creative director in 2008 and then left the position shortly after wrapping up production on the action role-playing game DeathSpank in April 2010.
Gilbert writes that he’s now busy working on an iOS side project with designer Clayton Kauzlaric called Scurvy Scallywags in The Voyage to Discover the Ultimate Sea Shanty: A Musical Match-3 Pirate RPG (yes, that’s really its name). He is also scheduled to deliver the keynote at PAX Australia.