Well, I never. I wonder if this is anything to do with the lead of People Can Fly leaving a few months back.

Cliff signs Microsoft deal?

Guys, if you read what he said, he's not leaving Epic, he's leaving the industry... or, at least, taking a break from it.

"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."

Massive jaw drop.

Wow sad news for xbox gamers.
I would of liked to have seen what he was going to do after Gears Of War.
Seemed like a guy with a lot of ideas.

He must be bored

Crazy! But it definitely drives it home that even the videogame industry is not burn-out proof. Hope to see him return in due time and when that happens, I can't wait to see what he'll work on next.

Sony will welcome you with open arms.

WTF??? and the nextgen consoles are around the corner and all

In other news: "Cliffy B joined Microsoft Studios"...

I hear he's going mobile. He's all about the easy money.

Goodbye Cliff. We'll miss you!

Time to make Android and Iphone games?

GOD SPEED TO HIM!

wth.. He's been at epic for as long as I've been gaming, hell I'm 27, he was at epic when I was just a kid. Feels wrong.

Halle-freaking-lujah

Hopefully Epic Games can make a true Unreal Tournament again. Cliffy B gone the industry is going to get so much better!

First Ray Muzyka,Greg Zeschuk and now Cliff Bleszinski?

To tell the truth he was never a very likable person. His statements always seemed more jerkish and annoying rather then thoughtful or insightful. I don't hate him or anything but I don't consider him that big a loss to the industry. He is on the same level as Peter Molyneux in my opinion. You won't see me throwing any going away parties if he decided to leave.

Lets give him the reins of the Resident Evil franchise. It certainly can't get any worse. He always wanted to do a horror game.

This is quite surprising considering that the next gen hardware is just around the corner. Love him or hate him for his often outrageous comments, but he is a very talented game designer in the industry.

Kind of vague if he will still create games with his comments however it just looks like he is taking a break, so hopefully he will be back doing what he does.

Wow, I hope Epic can recover from this one. He's been pretty instrumental for them.

Not just them, he's been a key player in the evolution of shooters as a whole, and online gaming. From Unreal Tournament to Gears of War, the guy's left a pretty indelible mark on the world of gaming, and I think he'll be pretty sorely missed.

That said, I give him 1 year tops before he's back on the horse.

Wow... even before Fortnite. I am really stunned right now. I've followed his career by game since Jazz. I don't know how to react. I hope there is a future with games somewhere in there.

Shocker really..

Cliff was always the face of Epic and Gears, i wonder who will take his spot.

Also i see a lot of you posting that he will either go NaughtyDog or MS studios. Personally i can see him doing something with MS just because of the close relationship he had with them doing all the Gears. Or he will become a private consultant and work wherever he pleases.

And if he wanted to go mobile he could have moved over to CHAIR, they are pretty much all mobile.

Either way, i look forward to seeing where he moves onto and what he will be doing. Just please stay away from EA lol

good residence he has molded gears of war to his vision (lancer fest mixed with unlimited camping, and if anyone has played recently its filled with laggy games hosted in a different country when we were suppose to have dedicated servers that fixed this problem unless he keeps the game? idk i didint read this article just the title

I wonder if he'll go over to mobile like a lot of these veteran designers and producers are doing.

He's probably doing another AMERICAN PIE MOVIE as the SHERMANATOR. lol

knowing the fact that he is a xbox360 fanboy... Im sure he will end up somewhere at microsoft.

That was unexpected. I always believed he was one of the owners of Epic.

I wonder if he left the company because EA or Microsoft are making moves to buy it.

Most likely start up a new development house. I hope anyway.

If Sony or Nintendo had any kind of sense they should try there best to get him on there team making 1st party games.

I can see him opening a new studio, remaining exclusive to microsoft as a second party developer and adviser.

Seems like a lot of head designers are leaving there company to many actually

All the best to Cliffy, I'm aware that a team makes a game but I identify him and Gears 1 as the the maker of my first next-gen (now current) experience. I loved Gears 1 and I hope he can lead another team to even greater success.

He also crashed heads with MS about releasing free DLC early on in the game, while MS and the industry as a whole won that battle, I give a lot of credit to a man who understands gamers because he actually is a true gamer himself.

Smartest move is to find a work-life balance that's optimal for you, so best of luck Cliffy - only 168 per week so the f'it and live life how you want.

P.S. MS should still be kissing your ass for convincing them to put 512 MB ram instead of 256 in 360, had they decided against it, this gen certainly would have been another easy win for Sony.

He was bored of Gears I guess.

I enjoyed Gears 1 MP a lot this gen. Played it for a straight 1 to 1.5 year. That game alone made me pay for XBL.

That time has long gone. Shifted to PS3 with free online and PS+ for a lot of content to play.

Microsoft really needs to step their game up, to make me get on XBL again, probably most chance is on Xbox 8 with some good online launch game again...

Damn Cliff should of waiting for Judgement's release then left. On a good note, instead of abruptly.

This was unexpected. I hope he finds success in whatever he wants to do from here. I love the Gears games (and Bulletstorm) so it's sad to see him go.

First Rob Ferguson a month and a half ago and now Cliff, wth is going on over at EPIC. The Gears franchise looks in doubt.

These guys are super creative and they get stuck working on the same series over and over again because they don't own the company that now owns their creation. Lots of top guys have left companies this gen.

In some degree it's a bummer that he's decided to leave. He's helped make some great games, and been a great steward of gaming and gaming culture. On the other hand he always struck me as something of an arrogant prick with his "Rock star - like persona. I wish him well in his endeavours but won't miss seeing or hearing from him for a while.

Gameplay of his games are good, but if him leaving means less muscle-bound space marines that scream of over-compensation as a trend.. then good.

WHAT?

Wow, finally some interesting news on N4G. Hasn`t come up in a while.

Won't last long.

Within a year from now Cliffy will wake up on his cot in his two room flat in Bangkok after a week's orgy on psychedelics, pain medication, and cheap Asian liquor with the idea of game he has to work on immediately.

Either that or he won't like being idle.

*reads title*
Mmm.. Wonder if he will startup his own studio? What type of games would he make? I guess the given is it will have heavilly steroided men shooting things. and taking cover.

EDIT: " We are grateful for his influence
on Epic’s legacy, from the wild adventures
“Jazz Jackrabbit” to the visceral combat of
“Gears of War.” "

...What else has he made? lol. They just listed his portfolio in that sentence.
Hey other games company, heres Cliffy B's CV ^

Now start making PS3 "optimized" games dammit!!

I hope gears judgement is't ill fated. Because of Rob, and Cliffy departure. I was looking foward to buying it. I'm also going to miss all the pics of him screaming. Like he got shot in the a$$. lol

This came as a really big surprise if you look at with how much passion he talked about the upcoming projects epic is working on maybe something did happen at epic. He was probably person i least suspected of taking sabatical.

wtf?

Ok.

damn, news like these are always disheartening.. but the wise knows nothing lasts forever.

thanks Cliff and good luck in your next venture.

Good riddance

Isn't this dude responsible for work on gears? I heard from friends that he's a total prick...can't say I've ever seen him act like one though. Anyway, It would be pretty cool if he started his own prod line and churned out some decent IPs.

Sometimes a nice long vacation is needed to bring new ideas and a new purpose. He will be back.

Cliff should bring his amazing ideas to Hollywood and the film industry. They could use some good movies.

Epic Game is doomed *confirmed.
Some months ago lots of important high profile staffs left epic's People Can Fly studio now its Cliff Bleszinski leaving too.

I don't see much talent in epic this gen.
Gears of war is the best they've done this gen and its the work of Cliff Bleszinski
People Can Fly managed to put up a decent game (Bullet Storm) but they've been shredded off.

This will basically affect Microsoft because of their heavy reliant on Epic Games over their own 1st party studios.

For me Cliff Bleszinski has 3 great options:
1. Start up his own studio (will be expensive)
2. Join 343 industry (his good relationship with microsoft)
3. Join Naughty Dog studio (though unlikely but will be great)

To me, Cliff was the face of Epic. He was so bombastic and memorable...and he always looked a little like Jamie Kennedy to me.

I think everyone in the industry liked Cliff and remembered him after they saw him just one time. In short, Cliff B defines the word Epic.

i've never been attracted by any of his games it's war blood action and that's not the type of games i like.

but why? : (

On another note, someone had mentioned him going over to Valve and while I don't see it as something that would ever in a million years happen, it would be cool to see what if anything he could do with some of their franchises aside from teaching them how to count to 3.

My prediction is that we haven't seen the last of him. He's likely taking some time away to vacation and then he'll get together with some of his industry buddies and kick off his own studio where he makes the final decisions on everything. Maybe he has a dream title that he's never had the opportunity to work on and this is how he plans to get it made.

I feel like he's tired of working on shooters like Gears and wants to do his own thing

Well, theres another exclusive gone for MS.
Down to Fable, Forza & Halo now.

I hope his break isn't to long has he has done a great job with Epic games.

i think the last game i like and play for years from epic was ut2004 on the pc ,dont think they have make other game that i like since..

Poor xbox.. You really have nothing at all to offer gamers.. Especially now that your gears of war mastermind is gone.. Dont worry tho, im sure there will be plenty more guns & aliens to see in the future..

Am I the only one thinking, "who the hell cares?". I'm sorry, but the guy was a douche. He added nothing to the gaming industry as a whole, and did nothing but praise his own work and pretend that the very ground he walked upon is somehow holy. He's an arrogant little snob, and all the teary comments flowing down this comment section are just pathetic. Seriously people, get over it. The industry is probably better off without people like him. Mabye Jaffe will follow suite.

I can see him open his own Studio in the future.

I say Good luck to Cliff. I hope whatever he finds himself doing next is a success. I will miss his personality at Epic. Sure he was brash and cocky at times... but overall he was a very positive influence on the industry.

I was surprised to read this earlier this morning...Cliffy B is the heart of what Gears is, so to me this potentially puts a strain on what the next Gears (after Judgement) can do to evolve.

He'll probably start a new company (down the line at least).

The industry doesn`t need any more "get some, get some" "shoot shoot" games.
Nuff said.

In all of his games there is always a character that looks like dom or marcus.

This is the biggest load of crap ever. Like he's going to just up and leave his multi award, multi million dollar making position. Guy's the biggest innovative money making thing to hit EPIC, but he's going to leave cuz he needs a (break!?) sure there. U guys can believe that. But i think them illiminati dudes are picking at straws saying "hey, i think i'll take control of epic, how about you? Which company will you take? Other illuminado: "Hmnn i think ill run the bioware guys out of town and use the same excuse u using for that epic guy" " u kno, the part were ohh, it was simply time for a change. Pfft!! Get a clue people. I aint buying it. Wanna know there agenda go play rezident evil 4. On any system but not for the gameplay, but for the random files dropped along the course of the game. Read them all carefully. Thts the real scary part in the game not the bad guys.

As shocking as this was with him choosing to leave the gaming industry in his current capacity! How much would the internets be set ablaze if he was announced as the new design director or some other high position within Retro Studios? With rumors that Retro is busy creating graphics engines for WiiU and that they have shown such work to Epic. Maybe he has seen what they are working on and was really impressed as well! Either way it goes, this is all just speculation right now and I'm sure we'll be seeing Cliffy's work to come in the not so distant future...

See ya

Cliffy B " I will be back"

This saddens me.

Overrated, over opinionated and loud mouth douche, just like David Jaffe. Can't say I'll miss him.

Given how much it costs to make games and how long that takes, getting the games into the most gamers hands is not only best for all gamers, but studios and the industry.

"lead designer on the first three installments of the Gears of War franchise"

Any developer of a game old or new would be happy it's going to make more money.

August 26:
Gears of War on PlayStation
Helldivers 2 on Xbox
What a day to be a gamer!

Cliffy doing his best to be relevant and cool again.... sorry you Madde dumb decisions bro.

Yet, he was the one who bragged about it being exclusive, because he didn't like the PS3/Controller. Remember he used to attack people for asking if the game was coming to other platforms.

This guy is such a dork.

Hasn't been Xbox exclusive for a decade

Never thought I lived long enough to see this