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Cliff Bleszinski Leaving Epic Games

One of the masterminds behind Gears of War is finally leaving the nest.

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Who expected this one?

Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski is leaving Epic Games to “chart the next stage of his career,” according to a blog post on the company’s website.

“I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager, and outside of my sabbatical last year, I have been going non-stop,” said Bleszinski in a note to colleagues, parts of which are featured on the site. “I literally grew up in this business, as Mike likes to say. And now that I’m grown up, it’s time for a much needed break.”

Bleszinski pointed people to the blog on his Twitter account, but has said nothing else about his future.

The designer has been at Epic Games for 20 years, having worked on everything from Jazz Jackrabbit to Unreal Tournament. He was one of the principal leads on the Gears of War franchise, and often shared the spotlight with Mark Rein and Mike Capps as the faces of Epic Games.

He was always a fun interview, too.

Patrick Klepek on Google+

257 Comments

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chubbs21

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Edited By chubbs21

Cliffy B Who?

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loopy_101

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Edited By loopy_101

Cliffy B's been out of touch for years now, even so, thanks for the memories. Unreal Tournament '99 still stands to be one of my favourite games of all time.

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Boopie

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Edited By Boopie

Rod Ferguson left the company in August as well so this is a major brain drain for the Gears property I don't see where Giantbomb reported on Ferguson leaving

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johnaze

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Edited By johnaze

Wow, I actually didn't see that one coming! Think Jazz Jackrabbit was one of the first games i got for my Windows 95 pc.

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TwoOneFive

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Edited By TwoOneFive

@Hailinel said:

@TwoOneFive

meh not that big of a deal.

i dont understand why dudes are always being tied to one studio. it would be cool if the best game designers were treated like movie directors.

He's been with Epic his entire career and was one of the longest tenured, most respected people in the company. Of course his departure is a big deal.

not, it isn't. people move on, make changes, not a big deal at all dude. its just a place to work at, he wants to do something else and work on something different, whoopdeedoo

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bluefoxxy

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Edited By bluefoxxy

Good riddance. Hope I never have to hear that name again... CliffyB, in my mind, is just some whiney forum poster from the 90's that didnt know his ass from a hole in the ground.

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Namekaze_Minato

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Edited By Namekaze_Minato

Capcom, Lionhead, Bioware and now .........Epic games....loosing the staff behind their legendary franchises.....this is a sad time for the gaming industry.