Cliff Bleszinski Blames Twitter Fan For Why He'll Never Make Another Game

Once upon a time, Cliff Bleszinski was widely regarded as a great developer during his Gears of War days. The franchise grew and became one of Microsoft’s system sellers alongside Halo under Bleszinski’s guise as game director. More recently however, “CliffyB” was the co-founder of Boss Key Productions, the studio responsible for LawBreakers and Radical Heights. The former was a polished game that had potential but saw a poor reception and audience on release while the latter was a rushed battle royale title with too many problems to count.

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/RtS7l5WcAl

— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) November 15, 2018

Since the closure of Boss Key Productions earlier this year, Bleszinski hasn’t done much of note. One now-deleted Twitter user tweeted at him saying that “you all won’t refund players who stuck with you all and spent money for you all to keep up the content. Cliff I looked up to you during the Gears of War days and sad to see you where you are at. Wish you’d come back. Now all that money is [sic] waisted.”

Of course, it can’t be easy to read comments like that sent to you but Bleszinski lashed out: “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.” He followed it up with a Game of Thrones meme featuring Tyrion Lannister that says “Kindly behold all of the fucks that I do not give.”

Zach Lowery, a former Boss Key animator turned Fortnite developer at Epic Games tweeted back at Bleszinski saying that his severance was only three weeks and that “months must be getting shorter and shorter in retirement”. It’s a comment that seems like a serious dig at Bleszinski but after a few back-and-forths including Bleszinski reminding Lowery about the time he flew him and his family to New Orleans. He later tweeted that they were just “ribbing each other” however, and that he gave a recommendation of a former employee to a former peer last night.

It seems like Cliff Bleszinski’s days in games development are over once and for all. A man who was once a living legend but has started to take a bit of a nosedive recently; will we see him elsewhere in the gaming industry or will he be sticking to his Twitter feed? In other news, check out all of the nominees for the Game Awards 2018.

Header image courtesy of GameWatcher.