RALEIGH – Cliff Bleszinski, acknowledged as one of the creative gurus at Epic Games who held develop such award-winning titles as “Gears of War” before striking out on his own, has shut down his own gaming venture.
In a tweet Monday, Bleszinski disclosed that Raleigh-based Boss Key Productions is going out of business.
“As off today, Boss Key Productions is effectively no more,” he wrote.
“Four years ago I set out to make a toward class video game studio and I hired some of the best talent in the videogame industry.
“They worked tirelessly to produce quality products and, while we had our ups and downs, I’d like to think we had fun doing it.”
He acknowledged that the firm’s lead game, LawBreakers, didn’t pan out as a revenue winner. A followup title, Radical Heights, also didn’t succeed financially.
“LawBreakers was a great game that unfortunately failed to gain traction, and, in a last ditch attempt we scrambled to do our take on the huge battle royale genre with Radical Heights which was well received, however it was too little too late.”
Battle royale is the genre in which Epic Games has found such global success with Fortnite.
Bleszinski recently complained that Epic was trying to recruit employees away from his firm.
So what’s next?
“As for myself, I’m going to take some time off and reflect,” he wrote.
“I need to focus on myself and family, as well as my Aussie, Teddy, who is slowing fading from us.”
Bleszinski added that “I need to withdraw and take this time” even though he says gaming “will forever be a part of who I am and I hope to make something new again someday.”
He expressed thanks to his employees and people who “supported myself and the studio.”
As for Radical Heights, he said the game’s servers “will remain up for the near future.”
