Cliff Bleszinski, the former design director for Epic Games, has never been afraid to burn a few bridges to get his point across. In a post on Twitter, the Gears of War designer let loose on the failure of his PS4 console exclusive LawBreakers and why he probably didn’t make the wisest choice in going with Sony’s machine for the title.
Bleszinski mused that “when people follow your career from a beloved series such as Gears on Xbox,” it would have made more sense to continue working with the crowd that supported him, referring to the fans of Microsoft’s Xbox One. He continued, “yes, it WAS a mistake putting LawBreakers on Playstation over Xbox.”
LawBreakers was the maiden title of development studio Boss Key Productions, formed by Bleszinski and fellow Epic Games alum, Arjan Brussee. Released in August 2017, the first-person shooter initially received strong critical praise for its team-based online play and Lawbreakers' inventive level design, but was unable to sustain a large enough audience to keep the servers running.
LawBreakers eventually went free-to-play on Steam before the game was shuttered for good in September 2018. Coupled with the failure of Boss Key’s sophomore effort, Radical Heights, the studio shut down earlier that same year after Brussee returned to Epic Games.
Bleszinski has since tried his hand at theatre production, investing in a play called Hadestown. The musical, based on Greek mythology, was a massive success on Broadway and won eight Tony Awards. Bleszinski is also working on a memoir about his time in the games industry that he describes as the video game equivalent of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. Bleszinski recently stated that he wouldn't be against returning to Gears of War as a consultant, saying that he had plenty of ideas that were “sitting on the cutting room floor." However, that decision ultimately rests with Microsoft and franchise developer The Coalition.
While there were plenty of factors for LawBreakers demise, it honestly made sense to go with Sony's platform since the PS4 has a larger base than the Xbox One. The title didn’t fare well on the PC either so it’s unclear how much effect switching consoles would have had.
Going head-to-head with Overwatch was likely the biggest reason the game didn’t succeed and the marketing for LawBreakers didn’t do much to show players why they shouldn’t just stick with Blizzard’s shooter. It will be interesting to see how and when Bleszinski returns to video games. If that day comes, there is sure to be more than a few quotes to go with it.
