The first details on the next game from former Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski have been revealed.
Bleszinski has founded Boss Key Productions to bring "AAA quality" to free-to-play games, and an arena shooter currently codenamed BlueStreak will be the studio's debut title on PC.
Boss Key is partnering with free-to-play behemoth Nexon, and the company received both a minority stake in Boss Key and worldwide publishing rights to BlueStreak.
OK, But Who Is Cliff Bleszinski Again?
One of the premier modern shooter developers. He was the lead designer on Gears of War at Epic Games, the North Carolina-based studio he worked at for 20 years. You might also know him from designing the Jazz Jackrabbit series of platformers, which were also created at Epic.
Didn't He Retire?
Kind of. Bleszinski started game development as a teenager. Epic Games was everything he ever knew. After shipping Gears of War 3 and finishing out that the story started in Gears of War 1, he wanted a break.
"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 blog post from October 2012. "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."
Isn't Gears of War Still Around?
Yep. Microsoft is developing a new Gears of War game at Black Tusk Studios in Vancouver.
That's Not Epic Games!
You're right. Microsoft purchased the rights to Gears of War earlier this year. While Gears of War was always considered an Xbox exclusive, that's because Microsoft partnered with Epic Games and made the series its own. Epic Games always owned the rights to Gears of War, and it was totally possible a new Gears of War game could have ended up on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
What About Jazz Jackrabbit?
Epic Games still owns the rights to Jazz Jackrabbit, but Bleszinski did start Boss Key with Arjan Brussee, who co-created Jazz Jackrabbit with Bleszinski before he founded Guerrilla Games.
Do We Know Anything Else About BlueStreak?
Not really. But Bleszinski is promising more details tomorrow, according to his Twitter account:
Tomorrow, expect answers on why: F2P, PC, Nexon, Not a MOBA, etc...
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) July 8, 2014
Isn't It Weird He's Making a F2P Shooter While Epic Revives Unreal Tournament as a "Free" Shooter?
Yes.