Cliffy B: "I have a 40 ft. hard-on for original IP"

"I have a 40 ft. hard-on for original IP and that's what Gears of War is," Epic's Cliff Bleszinski toldus last week, when we quizzed him on the chances of seeing more original properties from the Unreal and Gears studio.

"The fact that [Gears of War] was such a success proves to me that this business is driven by its own internal IPs and not licensed properties," he said.

Following the 3 million-plus sales of its flagship 360 shooter, Epic is now finishing up the third installment of Unreal Tournament and touting the various non-blaster games using Unreal Engine 3, such as Zombies Ate My Neighbors look-alike Monster Madness.

As for what Cliffy's boner for original IP means for his next title, the Epic lead designer says we'll have to wait a while before we get that in our hands: "I think my plate will probably be full the next couple of years working on what I'm working on.

"I'm not really allowed to say anything about what I'm doing but I have about 8 million intellectual properties floating around in my head and I'd love to have a few more developed at some point in the future."

Look for the full interview with gaming's best-groomed developer onGR soon.

March 15, 2007