Why Cliff Bleszinski Turned Down An Opportunity To Work With Kojima
Cliff Bleszinski is a game developer whose career is best described by his first name: He climbed up a cliff, basked in his success when he was at the top, and promptly (and voluntarily) jumped off. Bleszinski is mostly known for the legendary Gears of War franchise since he served as lead designer for the first three entries. Gears of War made him a household name — as well as millions of dollars — but he decided to leave Epic. The next time Bleszinski entered the gaming spotlight was with his new studio Boss Key Productions, and only because its only two games, LawBreakers and Radical Heights, flopped hard.
However, despite his less-than-stellar record of recent games, many big-name developers still hold Bleszinski in high regard and want to work with him, including the king of the "What the heck did I just play," Hideo Kojima. Many people have jumped at the chance to work alongside Kojima, as demonstrated by Guillermo del Toro and Junji Ito joining him on Silent Hills before its cancellation. However, Bleszinski was not one of those people. The reason might surprise you.
Bleszinski didn't want to work on an existing property
Throughout Cliff Bleszinski's career, he exclusively created his own properties or lent a helping hand on new ones. He was a primary designer for Jazz Jackrabbit, Unreal, and Gears of War, as well as a creative consultant for Rune. He only worked on sequels when he also developed the previous entries. Apparently, this practice colored his career outlook.
During a Rolling Stone interview, Bleszinski revealed that Hideo Kojima approached him with the offer to collaborate on Silent Hills. However, Bleszinski turned him down on the grounds that it was Silent Hills. He adores the Silent Hill franchise, but he just didn't have the heart to work on someone else's brainchild. "I only want to work on new IP," explained Bleszinski. "I wanted to go my own way, in terms of being CEO and seeing if I had it in me to make another world. I have a lot of respect for Silent Hill as a franchise, it means a lot to me, but I'd be too afraid of f*cking it up."
Perhaps if Kojima asks Bleszinski to help craft a spiritual successor to Silent Hill, the two can join forces.