Epic Games seems to have scored a big win for itself in terms of recruiting talent. According to Geoff Keighley, the producer of The Game Awards, Epic has quietly brought Jason West on board. In case you don’t know who West is, he, along with Vince Zampella, co-founded Respawn, the developers of Titanfall and Apex Legends.

Prior to founding Respawn, the two headed Infinity Ward under Activision, and were responsible for the creation of the series, and then developing megaton sequels Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, among two of the biggest successes of last generation.

Now, while Keighley is well placed in the industry, and is likely to have an actual scoop on the matter, if he is commenting on it publicly, remember that we don’t have an official confirmation from Epic Games yet. That said, if this is true, then having someone as talented and experienced as West on-board bodes well—who knows what kinds of projects Epic may undertake in the future?

Some game industry scoop: @EpicGames has quietly hired Jason West, @InfinityWard and @Respawn co-founder, to work on its game development efforts. From what I hear West, who lives in North Carolina, has been in the office for about a month. pic.twitter.com/nhR0zPq0mB

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) April 12, 2019

But that’s not the case, as apparently according to unnamed source who spoke to Kotaku, West has been gone from the company since May 2012 when the lawsuit with Activision was settled.

The departure was apparently amicable and West left primarily due to family issues. So he has not been involved with the studio’s first title, which is being teased to appear at this year’s E3. Currently, Respawn hasn’t commented on his departure.

This is surprising news indeed, but Respawn is still going fairly strong. Hopefully West will return to the industry when things are better.