All Articles: Radical Heights

Cliff Bleszinski is shutting down Boss Key Productions to focus on his family

Posted on May 15, 2018 by John Scalzo

Cliff Bleszinski, gaming’s original “DudeBro” and the creator of the Gears of War franchise, has announced (via Twitter) that he is stepping away from game development to spend more time with his family.

The legendary developer got his start in the early 90s at Epic Games, and he would use his time at the company to produce a variety of hits, including Jazz Jackrabbit, Unreal, and Unreal Tournament. “CliffyB” would eventually take the reins to Gears of War, and he served as Lead Designer on the first three games in the franchise before leaving Epic in 2012.

Bleszinski would return as the face of Boss Key Productions in 2014. His team took a stab at the “Hero Shooter” genre in 2017 with LawBreakers, and they followed it up with Radical Heights, a free-to-play “Battle Royale” game, earlier this year. Both games “failed to gain traction” with players, and this likely lead to Bleszinski’s current sabbatical from the industry.

According to his statement, Bleszinski hopes to “someday” return to game development, but Boss Key Productions as an entity is “effectively no more”:

In a final message to his fans, Bleszinski thanked them for all their support over the years and said that the servers for Radical Heights will remain available for the near future.

Posted in News, PC, PS4 | Tagged ,

Boss Key brings the battle royale back to the 80s in Radical Heights… which launches on Steam Early Access tomorrow

Posted on April 9, 2018 by John Scalzo

Cliff Bleszinski’s Boss Key Productions has decided to move on from LawBreakers, their entry in the burgeoning “Hero Shooter” genre, and will now compete with the big boys of the “Battle Royale” genre. But instead of dropping dozens of players on an island, the combat in Radical Heights takes place inside a sealed dome that should be familiar to fans of The Running Man.

The 80s-themed glitz and glamour of the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic (along with Midway’s Smash TV) is a clear inspiration for Radical Heights, and players will need to safely navigate the game’s neon-tinged environments if they want to survive. Thankfully, “Cash is King” inside the dome, and players will be able to spend their greenbacks on new weapons, “righteous” threads, or a BMX bike…

Welcome to RADICAL HEIGHTS, a free *X-TREME Early Access* BATTLE ROYALE shooter. Partake in high-stakes battle royale gunplay in a sunny SoCal dome as contestants drive-by on BMX bikes or stalk other contestants from the shadows in search for weapons and prizes… but also CASH that you can bank – win or lose! Whether you spend that cash on righteous customization in your personal prize room or pull it from an ATM to purchase weapons early in the next game — building a wealth of cash is as important as taking down the competition in this irreverent 80s-themed action game show where everyone wants to be rich and famous!

Radical Heights is a free-to-play game, and it’ll be available to download beginning tomorrow through Steam’s Early Access program. A Founder’s Pack with “exclusive items and bonuses” will also be available to purchase for $14.99.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged