Cliff Bleszinski Departs Epic

Today we are saying farewell with warm regards to Cliff Bleszinski, who is departing as Epic’s design director to chart the next stage of his career. 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.”

Said Tim Sweeney, Epic’s founder, CEO and technical director, “In 20 wonderful years with Epic, Cliff Bleszinski has grown into a true design luminary, and his contributions to the ‘Unreal’ and ‘Gears’ series have helped shape the game industry into what it is today. Cliff leaves Epic with our gratitude for his many contributions, and our wishes for continued success in the next chapter of his life!”

“In my 10 years of working with Cliff, his pa#sion for creating video games of the highest quality has been unflinching. We are grateful for all of his hard work, and remain committed to making our fans happy and to always raising the bar in everything we do at Epic,” said Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps.

“Cliff has been my friend and business[..]ociate for the past 20 years and, while it is sad to see him move on from Epic, I know that everyone here has benefitted greatly from his pa#sion for gaming and the depth of his expertise and experience,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic. “I’ll miss watching his star shine from such a close vantage point but I’ll still look forward to watching his continued success.”

We would also like to share an excerpt from Cliff’s personal note to his colleagues:

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, as Mike likes to say. 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 importantly, the people. Epic only hires the best of the best, and it has been a joy working with each and every one of you on a daily basis, whether you were hired weeks ago or decades ago. I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with a variety of disciplines, from code to art to marketing and PR – it’s been one big, rewarding learning experience. I’m confident that each project that is being built, whether at Epic, Chair, PCF, or Impossible will be top notch and will please gamers and critics alike.

We wish Cliff the best with his future endeavors. You can, too, via @therealcliffyb on Twitter.

Damn that sucks. Cliffy has been great for Epic. Let's not forget that this does not only have implications for Gears, but many things Epic does. Just wanted to remind y'all before the fanboy wars commence.

Why would there be a fanboy war? 360 users actually know when to call a spade a spade and realize a bad thing when they see it.

Why would there be a fanboy war? 360 users actually know when to call a spade a spade and realize a bad thing when they see it.

.....now hesitates on gears judgement

First Rod leaves to join Irrational Games
Now Cliffy B leaves

!!! When did that happen?

got to meet him at Pax East this year and dude was nice as hell. odd since online he comes across as an[..] but in person he is one of the nicest people I have met in the industry. hope all goes well and he gets some time off to smash that wife of his

Yea he seemed like another David Jaffe but I hear he's not.

who makes or uses a smiley of themselves? [pic] a clown thats who [pic]

got to meet him at Pax East this year and dude was nice as hell. odd since online he comes across as an[..] but in person he is one of the nicest people I have met in the industry. hope all goes well and he gets some time off to smash that wife of his