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Cliffy B has a game idea, seems mad about it, and it’s not a battle royale

Cliff Bleszinski is mulling a return to game development after an idea won't get out of his head

Lawbreakers shooter Cliff Bleszinski

After confidently announcing last year that he “will NEVER” make another game, Cliff ‘Cliffy B’ Bleszinski is hinting about a return to development. Admittedly, he doesn’t seem very happy about the situation.

“UGH guys I kinda have a game idea and it won’t get out of my head,” Bleszinski says on Twitter (via GameWatcher). “I thought I was truly done. But then, stupid brain shows up. UGH.” Bleszinski’s statement last year was an emotional response to a troll tweet, so perhaps it was given in haste. He says that his new idea will be small game if he makes it, and clarifies that it’s “NOT A FUCKING BATTLE ROYALE”.

Bleszinski co-founded Boss Key Productions, which launched free-to-play shooter Lawbreakers and later Radical Heights – a battle royale that Jordan actually found pretty compelling in a B-movie kind of way. Nevertheless, neither game achieved the commercial success Boss Key needed, leading to its closure in May 2018. In mulling his recent anger-inducing creativity, Bleszinski has given no indication that he’s looking to build a studio at the same level again.

Bleszinski gives little away about the idea. Given his rich history in action games, that would seem a natural avenue to explore. Equally, given his recent frustrations with the industry, perhaps he’s mulling over a genre switch. One thing’s for sure, though: Bleszinski has never lacked for ideas.

At its demise, Boss Key was considering a ‘feudalpunk’ ninja/samurai PvE game, but publishers weren’t enthused by the idea. A project codenamed ‘Rover’ would have been a multiplayer title in which players collaborated to control a canine-themed walker. Bleszinski referred to another idea as “Mario Kart on water with animals in VR”.

Before Boss Key, Bleszinski was design director at Epic Games, and despite his famously outspoken tendencies, is perhaps still best known for his work on Unreal and Gears of War.