The Official Xbox Magazine has stated in its latest issue that the inevitable Gears of War prequels may be handled by People Can Fly rather than Epic Games. The two studios have a close relationship (as one would expect, given that Epic actually owns PCF), as seen by both their involvement in this year's BulletStorm, so it wouldn't be all that surprising.
We'll keep you in the loop as soon as anything concrete emerges, but don't expect to be able to get your hands on the first in the prequel series for quite some time yet!