Cliff “CliffyB” Bleszinski, former lead designer of the Gears of War series, thinks Microsoft would be “smart” to have him consult on the series, even though he’s ready to move on.
It seems like it’s every other minute that CliffyB has something to say about some game series he’s worked on, and how they should be handled despite no longer being in the industry, with his last notable work being the failed attempt at capitalising on the quickly growing battle royale genre Radical Heights in 2018. Bleszinski recently spoke to ComicBook.com, where he expressed that he thinks Gears of War needs a God-of-War-like reboot, saying that “Phil Spencer has my number, I’m happy to consult.”
Following that, he then shared a statement on Twitter further explaining his comments, again saying that he’s happy to consult, while being slightly contradictory in that he also thinks it’s “time to move on.” The former game dev wrote in the statement, “we’ve been over this a million times re: Gears. I’m down to consult. Give my two cents. Crickets. I understand that Gears will always be an enormous part of my legacy. I appreciate and respect that. That said. Microsoft/ Coalition haven’t hit me up. OK. It is what it is.
“If they were smart, they’d enlist me for my input because, just from a PR standpoint alone it would be gold. But nothing… As much as I appreciate your support and those who know me from my Gears work… it’s time to move on.”
Personally, I find the PR comment a bit self-indulgent. After all, again, his last bout in the games industry was as the founder of a studio that didn’t find success with any of its projects, resulting in it being shuttered due to an attempt at a quick cash grab. We haven’t seen a new Gears of War since 2019, though, so maybe the point about a reboot isn’t the worst in the world.