Cliff Bleszinski leaves Epic Games
Gears of War designer taking "much needed break."
October 3, 2012 / 11:02 PM EDT / (@salromano)

Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer on the Gears of War franchise, has left Epic Games for “a much needed break,” he has announced.

“I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager, and outside of my sabbatical last year, I have been going non-stop. I literally grew up in this business, as Mike likes to say. And now that I’m grown up, it’s time for a much needed break,” said Bleszinski in a farewell statement.

“I will miss the projects, the playtests, the debates, and most importantly, the people. Epic only hires the best of the best, and it has been a joy working with each and every one of you on a daily basis, whether you were hired weeks ago or decades ago. I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with a variety of disciplines, from code to art to marketing and PR – it’s been one big, rewarding learning experience. I’m confident that each project that is being built, whether at Epic, Chair, PCF, or Impossible will be top notch and will please gamers and critics alike.”

Tim Sweeney, Epic’s founder, CEO and technical director, said, “In 20 wonderful years with Epic, Cliff Bleszinski has grown into a true design luminary, and his contributions to the ‘Unreal’ and ‘Gears’ series have helped shape the game industry into what it is today. Cliff leaves Epic with our gratitude for his many contributions, and our wishes for continued success in the next chapter of his life!”

We wish Cliff the best in his future pursuits. Enjoy that break!

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  • KingOptimusOrigins111

    Even though I don’t like Gears Of War this is very shocking and unexpected.

  • http://www.facebook.com/JaeWhy SasuleUchiha

    I think he’ll make his own studio if he comes back.

  • Dean Winchester

    Good riddance. Not a Cliffy B fan.
    Unreal and Gears are cool though.

    This is just an observation though: First Bungie dips and signs a 10yr contract with Activision.
    Next, head of Lionhead Studios Peter Molyneaux leaves.
    And now Cliffy B leaves Epic?

    All three of the effected studios each fathered 1/4 of the foundational cornerstone franchises Of the 360 brand.
    Halo, Fable, Gears.
    MS can lose fable and even Forza but they absolutely cannot afford for Halo or Gears to go down in quality.
    This is a tumultuous time for MS as we do not know what ill effects these losses in creative minds will have on these cornerstone exclusive franchises.

    It would be interesting to get the non PR reasoning for the mass exodus from under the big green umbrella but I will say the single common denominatorhere is MS.

    Changes are afoot to be sure.

    • http://gematsu.com/ Sal Romano

      I disagree. Sorta.

      I mean, unlike Lionhead or Bungie, Epic isn’t owned by Microsoft, so it’s a bit different. And I also don’t think Cliff’s leave will have much an effect on Gears’ quality. Lots of people tend to forget that it takes an entire team that creates a game.

      So I guess the same could be said with Molyneux, who in comparison always shot a bit too high with his promises for Fable. Perhaps with him now at 22 Cans, future Fables won’t be touted as much more than they actually are. And fans of the franchise could get properly excited for new games.

      But in the end, Microsoft knows its key franchises and will most likely keep them in check, quality-wise. Same as Sony and Nintendo.

  • PrinceHeir

    not a fan of his games, but i kinda respect despite being a douchebag(sometimes) 

  • Kobracon

    Wow. Things will get interesting….

  • Arya Momuat

    Oh, so no more Queers of War which is one of the biggest cancer in current gen’s gaming industry?

    Good fucking riddance. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back replaying my Neptunia, a REAL game.

  • http://gematsu.com/ Zero

    Not much love for Cliff in here.

    I just recently finished Gears of War 3 with my buddy a few weeks ago, we had been saving it to play on this trip. (We both went to go see an old friend from high school.)

    I loved the game, and I agree with him that Gears 3 is way better than the previous entries in the series. The story (in my opinion) is far better written in Gears 3.

    It’s only now that I truly understand why he was upset when someone said Gears 2 was better than Gears 3. You can see all the extra work the team put into Gears 3. It’s one of the best 3′s in a saga ever. 

    Traditionally, most sagas have a crappy 3rd entry. Which is unfortunate, considering that in most cases, the 3rd entry is the final one. Gears 3 handles it quite differently than most would expect, and the ending was very refreshing to me.

    I think Cliff is a great guy, and the type of person we need in video games. He has become one of the most recognizable faces in video games. We need more people like him, who really love games, people who can come out and talk about games, or the game they are working on, without sounding fake.

    Often times, the guy was misquoted or made to sound like an asshole. Sure, sometimes he didn’t like something or a game that others did, but everyone has different tastes. Is he really that different from some of us though? That’s what I asked myself today.

    The guy grew up on Japanese games, he loves them, and has been quoted saying this multiple times. He grew up on Nintendo, and loved to read Nintendo Power. He loved video games so much, he decided to start working on what he loved as a child. That doesn’t sound so different from my childhood, he just found a way to achieve his dream.

    Moving on, I read on Gaf or something that he recently got married. Good for him, and it would make sense for him to be taking time off. Like he says above, time for a break.

    I’ve also listened to him talk about wanting to make other games, things different from Gears of War, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him come back in a few years. I really hope he does come back soon. I think video games are better of with him than without him.

    • Locksus

      I agree with you. Gears 1 and 2 were simply “good” to me but I love Gears 3. I bought it about a week after it released and played through the campaign on solo and with my brother and briefly tried the multiplayer component which is amazing. 

      About a month ago I started playing multiplayer again and I’ve had a blast with it! Lately I’ve been busy playing Vesperia, Arkham City and Graces F but I think I’ll delve into the multiplayer once I’m done with these games and Dishonored.

      I