CliffyB leaves Epic and the games industry

jambo · August 11, 2020, 9:42am

Did not see this coming!

https://epicgames.com/community/2012/10/cliff-bleszinski-departs-epic/

Today we are saying farewell with warm regards to Cliff Bleszinski, who is departing as Epic’s design director to chart the next stage of his career. During the past two decades, Cliff has helped shape many successful games that have captured the imaginations of millions of players around the world. We are grateful for his influence on Epic’s legacy, from the wild adventures “Jazz Jackrabbit” to the visceral combat of “Gears of War.”

Said Tim Sweeney, Epic’s founder, CEO and technical director, “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!”

“In my 10 years of working with Cliff, his passion for creating video games of the highest quality has been unflinching. We are grateful for all of his hard work, and remain committed to making our fans happy and to always raising the bar in everything we do at Epic,” said Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps.

“Cliff has been my friend and business associate for the past 20 years and, while it is sad to see him move on from Epic, I know that everyone here has benefitted greatly from his passion for gaming and the depth of his expertise and experience,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic. “I’ll miss watching his star shine from such a close vantage point but I’ll still look forward to watching his continued success.”

We would also like to share an excerpt from Cliff’s personal note to his colleagues:

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.

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.

We wish Cliff the best with his future endeavors.

=[

Pyroclase · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

Who?

jambo · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

One of the main guys behind the Jazz Jackrabbit, Unreal and Gears of War series.

Pyroclase · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

Oh. Never heard of them, but as I understand it the unreal engine is hugely popular, right?

That sucks.

xalener · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

Pyro, where the hell are you?

Bloodshot · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

Fuck. Just as he had expressed interest in making a new Unreal game like the first one but in an open world he leaves?

Pyroclase · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

Uh… New Mexico? :retard:

jambo · August 11, 2020, 9:42am

You haven’t heard of Jazz Jackrabbit, Unreal, Unreal Tournament or Gears of War?

And the Unreal engines are the most licensed engines in gaming today.

MDIGN · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

most importantly you haven’t heard of Unreal or Gears of War? I am astonished.

Pyroclase · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

I’ve heard of both of them. I just said that the Unreal engine was insanely popular.

MDIGN · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

Oh forgive me, I let my swagg get the best of me.

papernick · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

But he’s talking about the game, not the engine.

Pyroclase · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

The other guy did, though.

I honestly don’t get why this is such a big deal.

MDIGN · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

Play Gears of War and Unreal Tournament. Unreal Engine was mainly developed around these two games and was expanded vastly expanded into what you see today. Gears of War innovated in gameplay by perfecting the cover mechanism and making an almost perfectly balanced and skill based multiplayer.(correct me if I’m wrong) Gears of War was the primary influence for the drive to make cover based third-person shooters, it started the fad you could say.
Some people might hate it and the story, but they can’t deny how much it’s changed gaming and consoles.

Cliffy B. was basically the mastermind behind Gears, without him I’m not really sure where Gears is headed.

k3nny1550 · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

^ Perfectly balanced? Clearly you’ve never run into shotgun roll spammers.

But yeah, Gears was damn fun. Epic won’t be the same without him.

xalener · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

I just hope he left the company In good hands.

CygNuS · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

Damn, that would have been awesome!!!
Unreal (1 that is) was - together with Half-Life - one of the most wow-inducing games for me.
That first time that you leave that spaceship into the open world… that music… that atmosphere… it’s edged in my brain.

edit
Just looked it up and he was talking about a new Unreal Tournament game instead…
I would’ve cared a lot more for a new Unreal singleplayer experience

Bloodshot · August 11, 2020, 9:42am

No, he wasn’t

https://www.pcgamer.com/2012/09/18/cliff-bleszinski-reddit-ama/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

pfannkuchen_gesicht · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

that’s kinda sad, didn’t expect that.
Unreal was so good, too bad there is no good sequel to this date I hope there will be one in the future though.

Oh and Pyro: shame on you, seriously.

Pyroclase · November 25, 2018, 2:41am

Everyone hates me.