Cliff Bleszinski says new studio is 'a matter of when and with who'

Former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski has opened up about his plans to start a new studio and wanting to be known for more than just the "chainsaw gun."

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Cliff Bleszinski's departure from Epic Games came in the midst of large shifts at the studio, just between other high-profile figures Rod Fergusson and Mike Capps. Bleszinski says that, after a brief stint of enjoying his new-found freedom, he's actively meeting with publishers and feels certain he'll start his own studio.

"I've been working with them since I was 17 years old. It's time for a fresh start," Bleszinski told G4. "I'll start a new studio maybe at some point. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when and with who."

He says he wants to stretch out his creative muscles and create new things. "I don't really want just the whole chainsaw gun to be my legacy, you know? A lot of these kids who have only been playing games for the last however many years, they think that's the only thing I ever did. They forget about Jazz Jackrabbit, Unreal Tournament, that I worked on things like Bulletstorm and a little bit on Shadow Complex. Moving forward I would hope to work on something new and fresh and redefine my legacy. Stephen Spielberg didn't want to be known for just E.T. so he made a lot of different kinds of things."

He said he spent about a month doing "absolutely nothing," but then got bored and started meeting with developers and publishers. His lips were mostly sealed when it came to his prospects, but he did reveal that he went to Paris to meet with Ubisoft.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 13, 2012 9:00 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Cliff Bleszinski says new studio is 'a matter of when and with who'.

    Former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski has opened up about his plans to start a new studio and wanting to be known for more than just the "chainsaw gun."

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      December 13, 2012 9:16 AM

      I think bunny suit before I think chainsaw gun :(

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        December 13, 2012 9:29 AM

        I think Unreal and UT. Great games.

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          December 13, 2012 9:38 AM

          Same. I only played the first Gears, and it was okay, but didn't stand out to me like Unreal and UT99 did.

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            December 13, 2012 9:55 AM

            Word. Unreal still stands out as one of the best, most immersive single player games ever, in my mind.

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          December 13, 2012 10:17 AM

          Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed Gears of War (at least 1 and 2) but Unreal, UT and UT2K4 are all epic (no pun intended) landmark titles. Those stick out a lot more to me.

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          December 13, 2012 10:31 AM

          I still remember the first time i saw sticker that said "From the makers of Gears of Wars" on UT3's box.

          At first i was like WTF then i got sad.

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        December 13, 2012 4:44 PM

        i think brocover

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      December 13, 2012 9:29 AM

      CliffyB should go to Valve and make some sweet TF2 maps.

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        December 13, 2012 9:55 AM

        I actually think he could do some amazing things at Valve. Man.

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          December 13, 2012 11:48 PM

          I was mostly kidding. I don't think he'd be a good fit there.

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        December 13, 2012 3:49 PM

        Maps? Seems like it would be a bit of a waste considering his capabilities.

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      December 13, 2012 9:29 AM

      Douche Designs?

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      December 13, 2012 9:29 AM

      here's hoping for a good Jazz Jackrabbit reboot.

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      December 13, 2012 9:37 AM

      Unreal Tournament was a truly great game. They were ahead of their time with online stat tracking and unlocks. (You could unlock the final boss Xan and make him a playable character).

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      December 13, 2012 9:37 AM

      Maybe creative dev's don't like working on exclusives, I hope that's the case and I really feel sorry for Miyamoto if it is but then again it might be different when you are so involved with the platform you make games for.

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        December 13, 2012 10:07 AM

        Why? From a development standpoint, it can only be easier for them.

        If you're truly trying to make the best game possible, and don't care about anything else, working on one platform would be the ideal way to do that.

        I guess you'd want the most people possible to play your game, but if you're as arrogant/confident as CliffyB, you'd probably just say "you should buy X platform because my game is on it."

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          December 13, 2012 10:34 AM

          CliffyB is all about making games with the best possible graphics as he can. Maybe this generation of consoles can't keep up with what he wants to see.

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            December 13, 2012 4:45 PM

            Yeah he has said that and he wanted Microsoft to put more RAM into the 360 before it launched.

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          December 13, 2012 4:43 PM

          I could swear I've heard some dev's say that they want to work on new IP's and try new ideas but they end up making a sequel to x because that's what's profitable. Though regarding motivation studies have shown that people aren't always motivated most by money but that the most intelligent and creative people are motivated by doing something they find interesting.

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        December 14, 2012 2:08 AM

        I think its got more to do with being stuck developing the same franchise for 10 years or so.

        In his recent AMA on reddit he spoke a lot about the kind of games that get him excited (skyrim) and wanting to pursue that, i dont think he could do that at epic.

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      December 13, 2012 10:54 AM

      Nice move, Steve, putting Marcus Fenix with a chainsaw rifle as the graphic for the article where Clifford Bleszinski says he doesn't want to be remembered for the chainsaw rifle. Could you have used an image from the GDC 2010 "Power Creative" speech?

      Well, here it is. CliffyB successfully running away from Unreal and Gears. He's staying quiet about his next thing, but it still sounds super-optimistic, like the Power Creative speech.

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      December 13, 2012 3:52 PM

      Not "The Tony Stark of games"?!?!?!1111oneoneone

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        December 14, 2012 1:50 AM

        So not likeable then?

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      December 14, 2012 1:24 AM

      Dude hasn't made a game I enjoy. So good luck to him.

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        December 14, 2012 1:24 AM

        heh... a game I didn't enjoy, even.

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