Cliff Bleszinski

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**Cliff Bleszinski** (Template:IPAc-en; born February 12, 1975), popularly known as **CliffyB**, is an American video game designer. Former design director for the game development company Epic Games and the co-founder of Boss Key Productions, he is known for his role in the development of the *Unreal* and *Gears of War* series.

## Career

His first game was *The Palace of Deceit*, an adventure title he started at the age of 15. Programmed in Visual Basic, its second version came out when he was 16.

### Epic Games (1992–2012)

Bleszinski got his start at Epic Games in 1992, after submitting his next game, *Dare to Dream*, to the company's CEO, Tim Sweeney. Though *Dare to Dream* did not achieve a great success, it led Bleszinski to work on *Jazz Jackrabbit*, a platformer co-developed by demoscene coder Arjan Brussee. The title, which came out in 1994, became Epic's biggest selling game at the time, earning him enough money to get his first apartment and car. It was also around this time that he joined Sweeney and James Schmalz on what would become *Unreal*, which received a sequel, *Unreal Tournament*, and expanded into a series of games.

 File:Cliff Bleszinski 2 (cropped).jpg
In addition to his work on the *Unreal* series, Bleszinski served as creative consultant on *Rune*, and as lead designer on the first three installments of the *Gears of War* franchise, which has sold over 22 million copies and earned over one billion in revenue as of January 2014. *Gears* evolved out of the development of what was going to be a game called *Unreal Warfare*. As Bleszinski explained in a speech at GDC 2007 entitled "Designing Gears of War: Iteration Wins," the game started out as another first-person shooter in the *Unreal* universe. Over time, however, influenced by the cover mechanic in Namco's 2003 game *Kill Switch* and the third-person *Resident Evil 4*, *Unreal Warfare* became the game known as *Gears of War*.

After 20 years with the company, Cliff announced his departure from Epic Games on October 3, 2012, saying he had been making video games since he was a teen and wanted to take a break. According to a 2015 interview, his original intention was to retire permanently. "I honestly thought I was done... It was a combination of gamers feeling jaded, as well as working with some very talented people who were also very jaded," Bleszinski told Destructoid. "I could pitch the most amazing idea to anybody back when I was at Epic toward the end, and they'd be like 'I don't buy it,'" he added.

### Boss Key Productions (2014–2018)

On June 30, 2014, Cliff announced on Twitter that he was "coming out of retirement to make video games again" and would be unveiling his next project in the next week. The new game, a free-to-play, PC-focused arena shooter code-named *BlueStreak*, would be published by Nexon and developed by his new studio, Boss Key Productions, which he co-founded with Brussee the same year. A year later, Bleszinski revealed that the arena shooter would be called *LawBreakers*.

Cliff Bleszinski was offered an opportunity to work on the *Silent Hill* franchise by Hideo Kojima, vice president of Konami Digital Entertainment. "I was flattered but declined," he wrote on Twitter. In May 2016, he joined the board of advisers for Fig, a mixed crowd-funding/investment platform for video games.

On May 14, 2018, Bleszinski announced the dissolution of Boss Key Productions, citing lackluster sales.

### Post-gaming career (2018–present)

After closure of Boss Key, Bleszinski has gotten involved with theater production. He invested and co-produced *Hadestown*, and plans to be similarly involved with a revival of *Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune*. He had also invested into two restaurants in the Raleigh area. He also seeks to publish a memoir of his gaming career, comparing the work to Anthony Bourdain's *Kitchen Confidential*.
He has also expressed interest in returning to the Gears of War series as an advisor.

## Personal life

Cliff is married to Lauren Bleszinski (née Berggren), a former professional gamer and id Software employee. Previously, he was married to a woman named Darcy. One of his brothers is Tyler Bleszinski, the founder of Polygon sister site and Vox Media progenitor SB Nation. Their father, who died when Cliff was 15, was an engineer for Polaroid. The nickname "CliffyB" was given to him derogatorily by "some jock kid" when he was a shy teenager; he then took it and developed a tougher persona around it. However, in 2008 he expressed a desire to retire the moniker, saying it's "time to grow up a bit".

In 1988, at 13, Cliff appeared in the first issue of *Nintendo Power* for earning the high score of 9,999,950 in *Super Mario Bros*. Regarding the achievement, in a 2017 interview with *Rolling Stone* he commented: "That was probably one of the moments when I realized, deep-down and subconsciously, I wanted to be a "name" in this business of video games." He also went to the Nintendo World Championships when he was 15, coming in second in Massachusetts. In 2000, *PC Gamer* called Bleszinski one of the "Next Game Gods" in its November issue, believing that he would eventually become an "industry legend." Wired magazine awarded him a *Rave Award* in 2007 for his work on *Gears of War*. On April 12, 2010, he appeared on NBC's *Late Night with Jimmy Fallon*, where he showed the debut trailer for *Gears of War 3* and cited *Space Invaders* as the game that initially inspired him.

Bleszinski has opened two bars in Raleigh, North Carolina, one in 2014, called The Station, and another one in 2015, The Raleigh Beer Garden.

Bleszinski stated that he is an atheist.

### Video games

* *The Palace of Deceit* (1991)
* *Dare to Dream* (1993)
* *Jazz Jackrabbit* (1994)
* *Jazz Jackrabbit 2* (1998)
* *Unreal* (1998)
* *Unreal Tournament* (1999)
* *Rune* (2000)
* *Unreal Tournament 2003* (2002)
* *Unreal II: The Awakening* (2003)
* *Unreal Tournament 2004* (2004)
* *Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict* (2005)
* *Gears of War* (2006)
* *Gears of War 2* (2008)
* *Shadow Complex* (2009)
* *Bulletstorm* (2011)
* *Gears of War 3* (2011)
* *Superhot* (2016) (co-designer of an arena stage)
* *LawBreakers* (2017)
* *Radical Heights* (cancelled)

### Filmography

* *Stay Alive* (2006) (consultant)
* Various *Mega64* skits
* *Jake and Amir*, episode "The Hot Date" (2011) (played himself)
* *Sonic for Hire*, episode "Gears of War" (2013) (played himself)
* *Video Game High School*, season 2 episode 1 (2013)
* Starbomb, "I Choose You TO DIE!!!" (2014)
* *Video Games: The Movie* (2014) (producer, interviewed)
* *The Jimquisition*, episode "The Golden Sins of Horror Games" (2015) (played himself)
* *Gears of War* (TBA) (executive producer, consultant)

## References

1. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Bissell, Tom (November 3, 2008). "The Grammar of Fun". *The New Yorker*. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141224113522/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/11/03/the-grammar-of-fun. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
3. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (April 8, 2010). "Why We Call Him Dude Huge". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 17, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120917112315/http://kotaku.com/5512240/why-we-call-him-dude-huge. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
4. ↑ Crecente, Brian. "Their future is Epic: The evolution of a gaming giant". https://www.polygon.com/a/epic-4-0.
5. ↑ Gaudiosi, John (July 21, 2014). "Interview: Legendary designer Cliff Bleszinski discusses the future of free-to-play shooters". *PC World*. International Data Group. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141015153252/http://www.pcworld.com/article/2455153/interview-legendary-designer-cliff-bleszinksi-discusses-the-future-of-free-to-play-shooters.html. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Freeman, Will (December 5, 2011). "FAQ: Cliff Bleszinski". http://www.develop-online.net/interview/faq-cliff-bleszinski/0117275.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Cliff Blezinski Reddit AMA (transcript)". September 14, 2012. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160205175228/http://amatranscripts.com/ama/cliff\_bleszinski\_2012-09-14.html.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Edwards, Benj (May 25, 2009). "From The Past To The Future: Tim Sweeney Talks (page 8)". Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170729181845/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132426/from\_the\_past\_to\_the\_future\_tim\_.php?page=8.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Fahs, Travis (January 9, 2009). "...And All That Jazz". Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170824053910/http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/01/09/and-all-that-jazz.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Bleszinski, Cliff. "The Summer That Launched My Career". Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170706082841/http://ctrl500.com/game-design/the-summer-that-launched-my-career/.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Keighley, Geoffrey. "Blinded By Reality: The True Story Behind the Creation of Unreal". http://www.gamespot.com/features/makeunreal/.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Reinhart, Brandon (June 9, 2000). "Postmortem: Epic Games' Unreal Tournament". UBM plc. Archived from the original on October 17, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161017014133/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131569/postmortem\_epic\_games\_unreal\_.php?print=1.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Template:Cite magazine
14. ↑ "Microsoft Studios acquires rights to Gears of War franchise". January 27, 2014. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170906182248/https://news.xbox.com/2014/01/27/games-microsoft-studios-gears-of-war/.
15. ↑ Dobson, Jason (March 12, 2007). "Post-GDC: Cliff Bleszinski Says Iteration Won Gears of War". Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160126205616/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/104058/PostGDC\_Cliff\_Bleszinski\_Says\_Iteration\_Won\_Gears\_of\_War.php. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
16. ↑ McGarvey, Sterling (March 8, 2007). "Everything You Wanted to Know About Gears of War...". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111708/http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/gears-of-war/771718p1.html.
17. ↑ Thorsen, Tor (March 12, 2007). "GDC 07: Cliffy B disassembles Gears, mentions sequel". Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140321235519/http://www.gamespot.com/articles/gdc-07-cliffy-b-disassembles-gears-mentions-sequel/1100-6167213/.
18. ↑ Epic Games (October 3, 2012). "Cliff Bleszinski Departs Epic". Epic Games. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121004030613/http://epicgames.com/community/2012/10/cliff-bleszinski-departs-epic/. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
19. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (October 3, 2012). "Cliff Bleszinski out at Epic Games". Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131226201725/http://www.gamespot.com/articles/cliff-bleszinski-out-at-epic-games/1100-6397630/. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
20. ↑ Makedonski, Brett (September 1, 2015). "Cliff Bleszinski says he retired because everyone was too jaded". Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160817080953/https://www.destructoid.com/cliff-bleszinski-says-he-retired-because-everyone-was-too-jaded-308782.phtml.
21. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (June 30, 2014). "Cliff Bleszinski says he's "coming out of retirement"". Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170802123719/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-06-30-cliff-bleszinski-says-hes-coming-out-of-retirement.
22. ↑ Campbell, Evan (July 8, 2014). "Gear of War Designer Cliff Bleszinski announces F2P shooter BlueStreak". Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140727162834/http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/08/gears-of-war-designer-cliff-bleszinski-announces-f2p-shooter-bluestreak. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
23. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (July 4, 2014). "Cliff Bleszinski creates Boss Key game studio with Guerrilla Games co-founder". *Polygon*. Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140808041419/http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/4/5871047/cliff-bleszinski-boss-key-productions. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
24. ↑ Webster, Andrew (August 26, 2015). "LawBreakers is the next game from Gears designer Cliff Bleszinski". Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170802125820/https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/26/9208067/cliff-bleszinski-new-game-lawbreakers.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Vincent, Brittany (February 16, 2016). "Cliff Bleszinski Turned Down A Chance to Work With Hideo Kojima on Silent Hills". Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160314124317/http://www.shacknews.com/article/93286/cliff-bleszinski-turned-down-a-chance-to-work-with-hideo-kojima-on-silent-hills.
26. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (May 10, 2016). "Gears of War Designer Cliff Bleszinski Invests in New Crowdfunding Site Fig". Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170823205321/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gears-of-war-designer-cliff-bleszinski-invests-in-/1100-6439670/.
27. ↑ Bleszinski, Cliff. "A statement:". https://twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/996092708971274245/photo/1.
28. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (July 7, 2019). "What's Cliff Bleszinski, The Creator Of Gears Of War, Up To These Days? A Lot". *GameSpot*. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/whats-cliff-bleszinski-the-creator-of-gears-of-war/1100-6468249/. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
29. ↑ Bleszinski, Cliff (February 5, 2020). "Offer Still Stands To Consult On The Gears Franchise, Microsoft". *Twitter*. https://mobile.twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/1225254352593596416. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
30. ↑ Kumpan, Sean (March 12, 2013). "EL337 Level: Interview with Lauren Bleszinski". PS Home Gazette. Archived from the original on 15 March 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130315203920/http://pshomegazette.com/2013/03/12/el337-level-interview-with-lauren-bleszinski. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
31. ↑ Sarkar, Samit (December 11, 2013). "Cliff Bleszinski wants to make a first-person arena shooter on PC". Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170731192147/https://www.polygon.com/2013/12/11/5200922/cliff-bleszinski-next-game-first-person-arena-shooter-pc.
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Template:Cite magazine
33. ↑ Totilo, Stephen (May 21, 2008). "‘Gears of War’ Designer Cliff Bleszinski Done With The ‘CliffyB’ Moniker". http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/05/21/cliff-bleszinski-done-with-the-cliffyb/.
34. ↑ Sheffield, Brandon (October 21, 2005). "Gearing Up for Next-Gen: Cliff Bleszinski Chats About The Epic Future". Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170731190533/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130845/gearing\_up\_for\_nextgen\_cliff\_.php.
35. ↑ Suellentrop, Chris (May 22, 2017). "Cliff Bleszinski on 'Lawbreakers', 'Overwatch' and Feeling Like a Disney Princess". Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170729174217/http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/interviews/cliff-bleszinski-on-lawbreakers-and-feeling-like-a-disney-princess-w483666.
36. ↑ Berghammer, Billy (August 18, 2004). "AU: The Cliffy B Interview". http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200408/N04.0818.1827.23661.htm.
37. ↑ Wired (April 24, 2007). "The 2007 Rave Awards". Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170824215729/https://www.wired.com/2007/04/feat-raves/.
38. ↑ Butts, Steve (April 12, 2010). "Gears Of War 3 On Jimmy Fallon". Archived from the original on October 14, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141014184554/http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/04/13/gears-of-war-3-on-jimmy-fallon. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
39. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
40. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `men's journal`
41. ↑ Weigl, Andrea (17 July 2015). "Raleigh Beer Garden to open Tuesday". *The News & Observer*. The McClatchy Company. Archived from the original on July 19, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150719014536/http://www.newsobserver.com/living/food-drink/mouthful-blog/article27488470.html. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
42. ↑ "Twitter / therealcliffyb: And I'm not Jewish. I'm an Atheist". Twitter.com. 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
43. ↑ "Games: Unreal Tournament 2003". Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170823204442/http://www.nvidia.com/object/games\_ut2k3.html.
44. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
45. ↑ Xbox Gazette (June 2006). "Interview with Cliff Bleszinski - Lead Designer on Gears of War". Xbox Gazette. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170906195741/http://www.xboxgazette.com/interview\_gears\_of\_war\_cliffyb\_en.php.
46. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (December 21, 2009). "Bleszinski working on "awesome s\*\*\*"". Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170825184652/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/bleszinski-working-on-awesome-s.
47. ↑ Brown, David (February 18, 2011). "Bulletstorm developer interview: Cliff Bleszinski". *The Daily Telegraph*. Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141016144448/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8333276/Bulletstorm-developer-interview-Clifford-Bleszinski.html. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
48. ↑ Hall, Charlie (July 11, 2014). "Cliff Bleszinski's next game level is being made in Poland right now". *Polygon*. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140716061136/http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/11/5888359/superhot-cliff-bleszinski-next-game-level-poland. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
49. ↑ Espineli, Matt; Butterworth, Scott (March 15, 2017). "Cliff Bleszinski Talks Making Medics And Inception-Style Hallways In LawBreakers". Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170825185238/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/cliff-bleszinski-talks-making-medics-and-inception/1100-6448721/.
50. ↑ Donnelly, Joe (April 9, 2018). "Radical Heights is Boss Key's next game—a free-to-play battle royale set in a 'futuristic '80s world'". https://www.pcgamer.com/radical-heights-is-boss-keys-next-gamea-free-to-play-battle-royale-set-in-a-futuristic-80s-world/.
51. ↑ jgaudiosi (September 26, 2006). ""Stay Alive" Hits DVD". videogames.typepad. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140808045839/http://videogames.typepad.com/inside\_video\_games/2006/09/stay\_alive\_hits.html. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
52. ↑ "WARREN SPECTOR TRIBUTE with Cliff Bleszinski". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9q8oxkhnvI. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
53. ↑ "SAKAGUCHI'S FINAL FANTASY". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuWkvyeAu0E. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
54. ↑ "Jake and Amir: The Hot Date presented by Gears of War 3". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39WgFpq-A94. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
55. ↑ "Sonic For Hire – Gears of War". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUGlNOPG38c. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
56. ↑ "Class in session! Video Game High School 2 Ep. 1 is live". 2013-07-26. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141026093104/http://www.destructoid.com/class-in-session-video-game-high-school-2-ep-1-is-live-258816.phtml.
57. ↑ Makedonski, Brett (2014-03-25). "Cliffy B chooses you to die in this Pokemon rap". Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140326153020/http://www.destructoid.com/cliffy-b-chooses-you-to-die-in-this-pokemon-rap-272441.phtml. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
58. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana (June 17, 2014). "Zach Braff-Produced Doc 'Video Games: The Movie' Nabbed by Variance Films". Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170824175527/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/zach-braff-produced-doc-video-712416.
59. ↑ "The Golden Sins Of Horror Games (The Jimquisition)". YouTube. October 31, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiV2hrpufLM. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
60. ↑ Graser, Marc (June 26, 2008). "Wiseman suits up for ‘Gears of War’". Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170824180959/http://variety.com/2008/film/news/wiseman-suits-up-for-gears-of-war-1117987552/.

## External links

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* Template:IMDb name
* Template:Tumblr
* Cliff Bleszinski on Twitter**Lua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 36: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).**Template:WikidataCheck
* Cliff Bleszinski on Facebook
* Personal website at the Internet Archive (December 5, 2000)
* Cliff Bleszinski Reddit Questionnaire (September 14, 2012)
* Cliff Bleszinski Reddit Questionnaire (July 9, 2014)

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