Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski says he might explore making ‘a small game’

Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski has suggested he could return to the development scene.

In a Facebook post, the former Epic Games designer said he’s tempted to explore creating “a little game” after taking a break from the business following 2018’s closure of Boss Key Productions, the Lawbreakers studio he co-founded.

Bleszinski is currently writing a memoir of his gaming career, which includes 20 years at Epic Games, where he was lead designer on the first three Gears of War titles, and a less successful four years as Boss Key studio head.

His Facebook post reflects on some of the painful lessons he says he learnt at Boss Key, which “should have started with a small, indie game FIRST before trying to make the shooter we ultimately did”, and laments missed opportunities such as the studio’s chance to work on an Aliens project before Disney acquired Fox and put that “in limbo”.

Looking to the future, Bleszinski suggested he could return to his game making roots one day, although he’s not currently interested in big-budget projects.

“I am finding myself actually having a slight itch to scratch to maybe poke around and see about making a little game,” he said. “I have some ideas kicking around, so we’ll see.

“I’ve found myself madly in love with smaller games these days, and the success of Fall Guys and Among Us give me hope that not everything needs to be insane AAA that requires crazy crunch that ruins families and mental health on a 100m budget.

“The other title I’m madly in love with is the Touryst on the Switch… Games like these give me hope that I may one day dip my toe back into the biz, ever so slowly and cautiously.”