It's been a few years, but the man behind the Gears of War series is back. Cliff Bleszinski, the game designer formerly of Epic Games who masterminded the Gears of War franchise has tweeted that he is coming out of retirement and then a link to a new website for his next venture.
On June 30 Bleszinksi tweeted out, from his account @thereallcliffyb: "I'm officially coming out of retirement to make video games again. Stay tuned here for details in the next 7 days! #DontCallItAComeback"
That tweet was followed by a July 3rd tweet countdown clock that is ticking away until Tuesday, July 8 at noon Eastern. And on July 4, Bleszinski retweeted a tweet by @bosskey with one word: soon.
A report by Polygon showed that in April, Bleszinski filed a new business named Boss Key Productions with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. The documentation lists Bleszinski as the registered agent for the company.
A document dated May 30 was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office that lists Boss Key's goods and services as "downloadable multi-player interactive computer game programs; computer and video game software; downloadable computer and video game software; downloadable electronic games via the Internet and wireless devices; downloadable computer application software in the field of games; interactive computer and video game programs."
The new webpage for Boss Key lists three twitter accounts: @bosskey, @therealcliffyb and @bluestreak. "Bluestreak" is the rumored name of Bleszinski's new game. He tweeted out a screenshot of something he was working on. He had previously stated he wanted to work on an arena shooter with a small team. Bleszinski was an early investor with Oculus VR, creators of the upcoming Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. So there is a fair chance that "Bluestreak" will run on the Oculus Rift.
Bleszinski was lead designer on Gears of War, a third-person shooter developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft. He left Epic Games in October 2012. There have been four Gears of War titles for Xbox 360. Microsoft has since purchased the Gears IP from Epic. Microsoft has already announced that its developer Blacktusk is working on a new Gears of War game for its latest console, the Xbox One.
