“I’m done.” Cliff Bleszinski is exiting game development for good

There is a high probability that you will never get to see another game from Cliff Bleszinski. The legendary creator of Gears of War and one of the most popular examples of a “rockstar developer”, says “I'm done” to game development.

After Boss Key Productions closing, Bleszinski stated that he was going to take some time off to reflect, but a now deleted tweet from a gamer complaining about players not getting refunds lead to a short-tempered reply from Bleszinski:

I paid my employees, their 401ks, and their health care – even months after the studio folded. So they could care for their families.

I didn't take a salary myself for two years.

I get you're sad, but god, this kinda shit is another reason I am NEVER making another game. https://t.co/RtS7l5WcAl

— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) November 15, 2018

Ultimately, it's the “I am NEVER making another game” part that everyone is highlighting. Maybe Bleszinski should have ignored it, as it had all the makings of a troll account, maybe not. However, one former Boss Key employee mentioned that he only received three weeks of severance pay instead of months, to which Bleszinski replied: “Maybe I used hyperbole. But I'd like to think I did the right thing.”

Among tweets of support and others of outrage, GamesIndustry reached out to Bleszinski about the original tweet, to which he replied: “I'm done.” Hopefully he will take a break and once again reflect on his career and what he can still bring to the industry, even if as a game designer for another studio. Who knows, maybe Epic Games wouldn't mind taking him under his wings again.

CliffyB left Epic Games in 2012 and after a short break, created his own studio in 2014, Boss Key Productions. Boss Key went on to develop LawBreakers, a first-person shooter that failed to capture a healthy player base, despite positive reviews. Initially announced as free-to-play and ultimately releasing as buy-to-play, LawBreakers probably suffered from the huge popularity of Blizzard's Overwatch. A hefty price tag for a multiplayer-only game that needed to prove itself over time was surely another important part of the equation.

Several controversies ensued, including one where Cliff Bleszinski said that Epic Games was poaching his staff to work on Fortnite. As a last resort, Boss Key started development on Radical Heights, a Battle Royale game that was desperately trying to ride on the popularity of the genre. It could eventually save the studio from its almost inevitable fate; alas, Boss Key ended up closing in 2018 and Radical Heights is now an empty shell of a game, sitting in limbo.