It's been less than a week since Cliff Bleszinski announced his new studio, Boss Key Productions, and already gamers are curious to know what the former Gears of War Design Director has planned for his new project. We know that the game is currently operating under the codename BlueStreak and is a PC-only free-to-play sci-fi shooter, but that's about it.
However, now that the promotional tour for BlueStreak has begun, Bleszinski isn't about to let the early buzz fizzle out. Instead, the Boss Key CEO took to Reddit for an AMA session where he delivered a few additional answers about his upcoming game.
First and foremost, it's important to point out that Boss Key is a recently formed company, and therefore BlueStreak is in the very early stages of development. Right now the team is only about 12 developers, but Bleszinski hopes to get that number up to 20 or so by the first year, before kicking it up to 60 or 70 as the project starts to ramp up. Ultimately, it sounds like Bleszinski wants a relatively small and intimate team.
Conceptually, though, Bleszinski seems to know what he's going for, but how exactly that will play out is up in the air. He does hope to inject the game with some sort of story, but not in the traditional sense. Rather, Bleszinski envisions a lore that exists in the periphery:
"Weapons will have manufacturing corporations, players will have lore/history, and the world will feel there and lived in."
"We also want to make live action shorts quarterly to help tell more about the universe outside of the game. If you're doing a Sci Fi IP you need as much of the fiction to come through in other mediums (and with lore) so people care about Plasma Rifle 3 or Player X."
And although Bleszinski kept away from the bigger questions, he did hit two major topics: graphics engine and PC-exclusivity. Obviously, since Bleszinski comes from the house that built Unreal, it would be safe to assume he'd prefer that graphics engine to any other, but that might not be the case. He does acknowledge that Unreal Engine 4 is an exciting possibility, but right now "it's wide open."
As far as the game's PC-exclusivity is concerned, Bleszinski is deploying a one-platform-at-a-time attitude. First, he wants to get the game out on PC, and then there may be talk of a console release for BlueStreak. That being said, Bleszinski seems most dedicated to the PC so we won't hold our breath regarding a potential Xbox One or PS4 release.
"PC first, and then we'll see. PC is where the comments generally are, the community gathers, and it's got that big global audience. In order to hit that global audience your game needs to look fantastic on the high end rigs but also run on a potato."
Much like his former employer is doing with development on Unreal Tournament, Cliff Bleszinski wants to make sure that gamers are continuously in the loop, learning more about BlueStreak as the team grows and the project comes together. This is just the beginning and there's a potentially exciting ride ahead.
What do you think of Bleszinski's early direction for his game? What do you hope to see from the game?
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