Rooster Teeth co-founder Michael Burns, better known as Burnie Burns, has announced his departure from the Austin-based production house as he and his family prepare to move overseas.

Burns will be departing the United States for the time being alongside his wife, Frag Dolls co-founder and former host of Rooster Teeth's news series The Know Ashley Burns (née Jenkins), and their children. This change has been in the works for some time. This past September, Burns announced that he would be taking a step back from Rooster Teeth, leaving his active position to transfer to a producer role at Rooster Teeth Studios.

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In a post to his personal website, Burnie.com, Burns recounted the journey that led him to co-founding Rooster Teeth and bid farewell to his co-workers and fans. "[A]s I set out on this new journey with my family and two cats at my side, that means my time walking the halls here at Rooster Teeth has come to an end," he wrote. "As some of you have predicted over the past year, my steady move away from a public life was in preparation for this change. So I hope this will not come as too much of a surprise. A few months ago, I enjoyed returning to the spotlight for a short podcast run with my old friends, and I would like to be able to continue to explore my creative passions. To that end, Rooster Teeth and I are currently working on a first-look agreement, which will enable me to incubate my own projects and then present them to the company for possible development." That last sentence is especially noteworthy, as it appears Burns is still looking to maintain a working relationship with the company.

"It is difficult to leave my home country during such a tumultuous time," Burns continued. "Ashley and I set these plans in motion over two years ago, and we could never have predicted the state of the world at the time we would embark. We believe in the strength and the promise of this nation as much as ever. We look forward to returning to a country that has made many long overdue changes to benefit all of its citizens."

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Burns then took the time to "express [his] deepest gratitude to everyone who supported [him] in [his] career at RT," as well as thank "every person who has walked through these doors as a collaborator or tuned in to one of our videos as a viewer or made the choice to become a member of our community. Your support has meant the world to me and I hope that I had even a fraction of the positive impact on your life that you have had on mine."

Burns founded Rooster Teeth in 2003 alongside Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, Gus Sorola and Joel Heyman. The company gained recognition for its popular web-series Red vs. Blue, which is based on the hit series of Halo video games and is still in production to this day, currently gearing up for its 18th season.

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As the company grew and more creators joined, Rooster Teeth produced various other brands, such as Achievement Hunter and the Let's Play Family (which includes Rooster Teeth subsidiary Funhaus), as well as more hit-shows -- both live-action and animated -- such as Day 5, Ten Little RoostersOn the SpotCamp Camp, RWBY and gen:LOCK -- the later two of which have even been adapted into comic books at DC Comics. The company and its brands have also been responsible various podcasts, in addition to its flagship Rooster Teeth Podcast (formerly known as the Drunk Tank Podcast).