It was announced today that Cliff Bleszinski, the creator of both the Unreal engine and the franchise of the same name, Jazz Jackrabbit and the Xbox360 blockbuster franchise, Gears of War, was leaving the studio that he's been a part of for the past 19 years, Epic Games.
It was announced today on the studio's website by the man himself. Mr Bleszinski stated on the reason why for the unexpected leave:
"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," Bleszinski said.
He continued "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 of all, the people."
The studio left this statement, "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."
The studio/Bleszinski's history:
"Epic Games, Inc. was founded as Epic MegaGames in Rockville, Maryland in 1991. Cliff Bleszinski joined the studio in 1993 and his first two games with them were "Dare to Dream vol. 1: In a Darkened Room, released in 1993 and one of Epic's most beloved but most dorment franchises, Jazz Jackrabbit, released a year later in 1994. In 1999, the company switched it's name to Epic Games, Inc. and also it's location from Maryland to Cary, North Carolina."
This isn't the first time that someone from the studio has left. In fact, he has joined a growing list of former-Epic employees. Earlier this year, Rod Fergusson, the then "director of production" left the studio to join Irrational Games in Boston, Ma and develop BioShock Infinite.
Infinite, the third installment in the BioShock series is slated for release, February 26th, 2013. Also earlier this year, a subsidiary to the studio, the Polish developer "People Can Fly" (BulletStorm, Painkiller) saw it's creative top-bosses leave.
People Can Fly is located in the capital of Poland, Warsaw. They were founded in February 2002 and were acquired by Epic Games in 2007. They're developing the next "Gears" game along with Epic, titled "Gears of War: Judgment" for the xbox360. It's salted for release in March 2013.
Jerry O'Flaherty, former art director for Epic, joined the studio around in 2003. He left them in 2007 and a year later, he was to make his directoral debut with the CGI film "ThunderCats". Sadly, this film was confirmed dead by Warner Bros., the current owners of the rights in 2010.
It's expected that the final game that Mr. Bleszinski will have input in is 2013's Gears of War: Judgment. Epic's newest IP "Fortnite", which was announced at last year's Spike VGAs (Video Game Awards").
Fortnite's release is still slated TBA, it's the company first PC exclusive IP in quite a while and it will be the first game to utilize the studio's new next-gen gaming engine, Unreal 4.
Though we don't know about Mr. Bleszinski's future, it may also sound like that his departure from Epic, is also a "hiatus" from the gaming industry as well. Wether the case, myself and the others here from the broken infinite, wish Cliff a successful future in whatever he decides to do post-Epic Games and a personal thank from me, Jeff Williams, for being one of the many people in the gaming industry, that while growing up, inspired me to become a game designer. So if your reading this Mr. Bleszinski "CliffyB", from the bottom of my heart, Thank You.
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Source:
- IGN
- GamingBlot
twitter:
- @therealcliffyb
- @EpicGames
- @IGN
- @GamingBlotTweet
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