Cliff Bleszinski on bouncing back from studio closure to producing the Broadway musical Hadestown
By
Guardian staff reporter
Summary
Cliff Bleszinski, the designer behind the Gears of War franchise, recounts the painful launch and failure of his independent studio's game LawBreakers in 2017, which led to the closure of Boss Key Productions and exacerbated his struggles with drinking. He describes how producing the Broadway musical Hadestown — a retelling of the Orpheus myth — became an unexpected source of redemption and creative fulfillment. The article traces his journey from the heights of success at Epic Games, through the humbling collapse of his own studio amid online schadenfreude, to finding new purpose in theater production.
Source
bskyCliff Bleszinski on bouncing back from studio closure to producing the Broadway musical Hadestowntheguardian.comKey quotes
· 5 pulledIt was utterly heartbreaking, to be honest, and it certainly didn't help with my drinking. I'll leave it at that.
I felt like Orpheus, going down into the underworld to bring back something beautiful.
The internet loves a good downfall story, and they were happy to watch mine unfold.
I retired from Epic and all of it, and I missed making neat stuff.
Hadestown taught me that there's life after video games, and that art can take many forms.
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