Gears of War Veteran Developer Cliff Bleszinski “Coming Out Of Retirement”

Veteran Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski, who left Epic Games in late 2012 after 20 years with the company, is "coming out of retirement," and will reveal his new project sometime in the next week.

"I'm officially coming out of retirement to make video games again," Bleszinski said on Twitter. "Stay tuned here for details in the next 7 days!" This tweet was accompanied by the hashtag "#DontCallItAComeback."

He drummed up further anticipation for his announcement by adding, "It's going to be a blast to finally tell the story of what brought me back."

Though Bleszinski has been "retired," he's not left the gaming industry altogether. He's attended various industry events like PAX East and E3 in the past year. He also made headlines when he called Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson a "pouty kid" when he canceled the virtual reality version of Minecraft after Facebook bought Oculus VR in March. Bleszinski was an early investor in Oculus VR, saying in March that he stands to make a "very sizable chunk of money" from Facebook's acquisition of the company.

As for what Bleszinski's new game might be, he's previously talked about starting a studio and working on new IP called Silverstreak. This project (potentially a fast-paced arena shooter) has reportedly been "gestating slowly" for some time. He also released some concept art last year, but it's unknown if it's related to whatever he is going to announce in the next week.

It's unclear what form this new game might take, but Bleszinski said previously that he wants to redefine his legacy. What do you think Bleszinski's next gaming project will be? Let us know in the comments below!

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email [email protected]