Cliff Bleszinski wants to redefine his legacy
Former Epic Games director doesn't want to be known for Gears of War alone; working on new IP called Silverstreak, intends to start new studio.
Life after Epic Games for Cliff Bleszinski is coming into focus. The former Epic Games design director opened up on his future in a new G4 interview, during which he expressed eagerness to open a studio to get to work on a new IP currently codenamed Silverstreak. He also said he does not want Gears of War to define him as a game developer.
"I don't really want just the whole chainsaw gun to be my legacy," Bleszinski said. "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, Unreal Tournament; that I worked on things like Bulletstorm and a little bit of Shadow Complex."
Bleszinski then compared himself to iconic film director Steven Spielberg, saying just like the Saving Private Ryan and E.T. director, he must also branch out in new directions.
"Moving forward, I would hope to work on something new and fresh and kind of redefine my legacy," Bleszinski said. "Steven Spielberg didn't want to be known for just E.T., right? So he made a lot of different kinds of things."
Bleszinski said he intends to open a new studio some point in the future, noting that it is not a matter of if, but of when and with whom. He was asked by the interviewee if his celebrity status in the development community could have a negative impact in his new endeavors. Bleszinski stressed that wielding this status appropriately can yield benefits, but noted that there is danger, too.
"You have to be careful when you have a certain amount of cult of personality," Blezinski said. "You can use it, and leverage it to some extent, but you have to be careful to not believe your own crap. And surround yourself with people who will question you at the right times; you don't want to surround yourself with a lot of yes men."
Lastly, Bleszinski teased his new intellectual property Silverstreak, saying he is "gestating slowly" on this mystery game.
Bleszinski left Epic Games in October after 20 years. Since leaving the company, Bleszinski has visited the offices of Activision, Zynga, Double Fine, and Electronic Arts. He has also met with God of War and Twisted Metal designer David Jaffe and been courted by Ubisoft.
