Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias is set to return to gaming in the new role of Creative Director for developer, Zynga San Diego.

The Verge reports the recruitment of Tobias is part of Zynga's on-going expansion into "mid-core" gaming, which also included the acquisition of Lucky Space maker, A Bit Lucky.

Tobias joins Midway alumnist Mark Turmell at Zynga, reteaming the pair who worked on Smash TV and Total Carnage. Zynga GM Bill Jackson informs [via The Verge] that Tobias is "already working on a cool new mid-core game."

John Tobias infamously left Midway Games in 1999, before founding Studio Gigante in 2000. The designer was responsible for the iconic storylines and characters of the original Mortal Kombat and its early sequels. Mortal Kombat Online recently talked to Tobias about the origins of his classic works for the twentieth anniversary of the series [full story].