Burnie Burns Departs Rooster Teeth (For Now)

Rooster Teeth co-founder and Red vs Blue co-creator Burnie Burns is departing Rooster Teeth. The former CEO and COO notes in an announcement that these plans have been in motion for a few years now and that a first-look deal is currently in the works with Rooster Teeth that could see the one-time executive staying on in some capacity.

On top of leaving the company, Burnie plans to live a life overseas for a bit with his wife of one year Ashley Burns by his side who is also departing Rooster Teeth. What this means for the future in terms of the projects these talents are already a part of, i.e. Red vs Blue, RWBY, etc., though our recent look at Red vs Blue: Zero may provide some hints at what could be coming down the pike.

Burns’ legacy is very much intact. Probably the unassuming godfather of the machinima style of animation, Red vs Blue has inspired legions of web producers to do like-minded series not only inspired by Halo, but other games like Grand Theft Auto, Skyrim, and others, have all received the machinima treatment in one form or another. Without Red vs Blue, this probably doesn’t happen.  Likewise, RWBY would not be here, and the 2.5D animation style that just about everybody rips off now certainly owes a debt of gratitude.

News came down last year that Rooster Teeth would be going through a bunch of restructuring, where it’s expected that the Rooster Teeth subscription service will eventually be killed off in favor of HBO MAX which is in dire need of original content. Already, one-time exclusive gen: Lock which premiered it’s first season on Rooster Teeth is getting a second season on HBO MAX before it is then syndicated to other areas including Toonami. Since then, Rooster Teeth has had massive layoffs and 2020 has yet to see a new original animated series premiere. New seasons of RWBY and Red vs Blue are incoming along with a Transformers series for Netflix plus a bunch of other originals were revealed as part of the company’s programming slate announced earlier this year.