One of gaming`s most veteran, high-profile, and outspoken developers--Cliff Bleszinski--is writing a book. He posted a teaser of a section about the challenges and realities of working in games, something he has a lot of experience with from his time at Epic Games and later at his own studio, Boss Key. The section Bleszinski shared was specifically about the fall of Boss Key, which shut its doors just a few years after opening.Other parts of his book will cover things like the death of his father and nephew, how his first marriage fell apart, and when he met his second wife. The section about the crumbling of Boss Key was harder to write than any of those passages, he says. In this passage, Bleszinski speaks frankly and honestly about his time at Epic. He praises Epic CEO Tim Sweeney for being a great boss and friend, and talks about how the games industry is a tight-knit community that looks out for each other (`We`re like the Nerd Mafia,` he says).He also reflects on the big shakeup at Epic with foreign investment. When Chinese internet giant Tencent invested in Epic, Bleszinski made a lot of money from selling his shares, which was in addition to the generous-sounding pay package he received at Epic before leaving the company. The passage cuts off at what sounds like the most interesting part, so I guess we`ll all have to wait for the book to come out to learn more.I haven`t done any interviews since Boss Key imploded because I needed to tell it in my own words, in my book.Did that today. Felt good, like that chapter in my life was finally closed.
|