Cliff Bleszinski Wants to Redesign His Legacy

In a candid interview, former Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski discussed his legacy, and how he wanted to be known for more than a chainsaw gun.

Speaking with X-Play, Cliff Bleszinski talked about what he plans to do with his life now that he's no longer with Epic Games. Bleszinski stepped away from his role as design director from the company in October after leading the charge on the seminal Xbox 360 franchise, Gears of War. "I don't want the chainsaw gun to be my legacy," he said. "It is pretty cool and whenever somebody puts together a top 50 weapons in video games and it's up there with the Halo sword and the lancer and the Doom BFG. That's really flattering, but a lot of these kids who have only been playing games for the last however many years; that's the only thing they think I ever did."

Of course, Bleszinski also had a hand in development of Unreal Tournament, the Unreal Engine, and Shadow Complex during the past few years, and hopes he can again be admired for something other than Gears of War. "Moving forward, I would hope to work on something new and fresh," he stated. "Kinda redefine my legacy, you know. Steven Spielberg didn't want to be known for just E.T., so he made lots of different things."

As to when we could expect more from the Cliffster, he told X-Play, "I'll start a new studio maybe at some point. It's not a matter of if, but when and with who."

What do you think of Cliff's claims? Can he overcome his Gears legacy?