The former Design Director at Epic Games has taken off the past year and a half to recharge and enjoy his new marriage. Now Cliff Bleszinski is ready to get back to work and launch Raleigh’s newest video game studio.
On July 8, Bleszinski will announce the full details of his new studio, Boss Key Productions, and his first game, which is rumored to be an online PC game codenamed Project Bluestreak.
Information will be revealed at www.bosskey.com.
Bleszinski has been building his new studio this year, filing paperwork with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State in late April. On May 30, he registered Boss Key Productions with the United States Patent and Trademark.
The paperwork description includes Office on May 30 lists Boss Key’s goods and services, suggesting the studio will produce online “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 paperwork also lists former Epic Games lead programmer Arjan Brussee as COO of Boss Key Productions. Brussee worked with Bleszinski on the Jazz Jackrabbit games at Epic before moving on to co-found Guerilla Games in Amsterdam. Most recently, Brussee has worked at Electronic Arts’ Visceral Games as executive producer on Battlefield: Hardline.
Bleszinski has told me he would use Unreal Engine 4 for his next project, something representatives at Epic Games had also confirmed in the recent past.
Late last year, I asked Bleszinski what opportunities Kickstarter opened up to him as an independent developer.
“I would like to go directly to the consumer if possible, although with the safety net of providing outside financing,” said Bleszinski. “I think Kickstarter is a beautiful, romantic thing. But for every success story there are ten failures, sadly. With the success of Day Z, it’s possible to have people pay for early access and then have the community help forge and shape your game. You can build the company while you build the game and the community at the same time.”
Bleszinski left Epic Games in October 2012 after spending two decades working on games like Unreal Tournament and Gears of War.
The new studio will be “lean, agile and fun” according to a recent Bleszinski tweet.
Bleszinski previously told me, “whatever I do next will probably be a result of everything that I have loved my entire life…the whole Slumdog Millionaire experience where we want all of those life experiences to lead to up to knowing what the right answers are for the show. Whatever I come up with next will probably be some crazy mash-up of influences like Shogun Warriors, Transformers, Thunder Cats…you know Saturday morning with sugar cereal in front of the TV.”
