Cliff Bleszinski earned fame during his time at Epic on games including Unreal, Gears of War, and, let us never forget, Jazz Jackrabbit. After spending 20 years with the company, he left in 2012 but returned to making games in 2014 with the arena shooter LawBreakers.
It was good, which unfortunately wasn't enough to make it a success, and after a last-ditch effort to catch the battle royale train in a game called Radical Heights sputtered out, Bleszinski closed his Boss Key Productions studio earlier this year.
It's hard to keep a good man down, especially one as obviously invested in the games industry as Bleszinski, and I said in May that I had no doubt that he'd return to the business one day. Yesterday, however, Bleszinski proved me wrong.
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/RtS7l5WcAlNovember 15, 2018
The tweet came in response to a "fan" who is apparently unhappy about not getting a refund on LawBreakers. Unsurprisingly, the exchange led to more heat on Twitter, some of it fueled by a back-and-forth between Bleszinski and LawBreakers senior animator Zach Lowery that Bleszinski later described as just "ribbing."
I still suspect that Bleszinski could make another game someday, and he's not turning his back on the industry entirely, saying in another tweet that he "will never, ever stop being an advocate for developers." But it's clear that he's in no hurry to bounce back from Boss Key, and under the circumstances I'd say it's hard to blame him.
pic.twitter.com/jnKPnmJKS2November 16, 2018
