Cliff Bleszinski, the lead designer of Xbox 360's original Gears of War trilogy, wants to work full-time on video games again after an eight-year hiatus

Cliff Bleszinski is a legendary name among Xbox fans, as this man was the lead designer behind the original Gears of War trilogy that helped put the Xbox 360 become a dominant force during the mid-to-late 2000s.

Yet, you don't hear from him these days, as he left the video games industry after his game studio, Boss Key Productions, closed down in 2018 due to the company's games Lawbreakers and Radical Heights failing to make enough profit.

However, in a recent interview with 80.Lv, Cliff Bleszinski has said that he wants to work on video games in a full-time capacity.

For our exclusive interview, @therealcliffyb arrived with a typed list: every mistake that killed Boss Key. The publishing deal that was too favorable. The wrong console. The co-founder he turned down. In his first in-depth interview in years, he reads it to us — and reveals… pic.twitter.com/PktR533xu0 July 17, 2026

It's a lengthy interview that provided interesting insights into Cliff Bleszinski's life.

These include his early days shipping shareware games as a teenager before spending the next two decades working at Epic Games, reflecting on Boss Key Productions' rise and fall, and his long-standing alcoholism that spiraled out of control after Boss Key Productions shut down.

In fact, the issue got so bad it caused Cliff Bleszinski to suffer a seizure and land him in the hospital this year in March. After such a traumatic event, Cliff Bleszinski hasn't drunk alcohol since, and during this now four-month sobriety recovery journey, he eventually rediscovered his love for video games.

"At the end of the day, I want to create characters and worlds. I want to make stuff that people will cosplay as and get tattooed on their bodies."

Cliff Bleszinski, 80.LV Interview

Cliff Bleszinski has already slowly gotten back into the video game industry in a part-time capacity, working as a consultant for an upcoming asymmetric horror game called Soul Walker, but he wishes to get into the business full-time…