Cliffy B and Nexon Partnering for Project Bluestreak

After revealing his new studio Boss Key Productions, longtime game designer Cliff Bleszinski has announced the studio's first game: a sci-fi free-to-play first-person shooter temporarily called Project Bluestreak.

A Tweet from Cliff's Twitter account first broke the news:

The tweet was followed by a press release from free-to-play publisher Nexon Entertainment announcing a partnership with Bleszinski and his new studio starting with the new game. Nexon called the deal a "strategic partnership" that also gives Nexon the exclusive worldwide publishing and marketing rights to Project Bluestreak when the game eventually launches.

Owen Mahoney, president and CEO of Nexon, had high praise for Bleszinski, saying, "Cliff is one of the most innovative and renowned game designers of our time, and his reputation for creating genre-defining games that inspire a dedicated fan base is well-earned."

“Players across the world have eagerly awaited Cliff’s next move, and we’re delighted to partner with Boss Key to bring the next generation of first-person shooters to market," Mahoney continued. "Cliff shares our unwavering commitment to delivering players the absolute highest-quality game-play experience."

We find it less and less surprising that big-time developers like Bleszinski are moving into the free-to-play market. The format seems to be the most profitable in gaming at the moment, so why wouldn't more and more devs want to test the waters? We're looking forward to seeing what Bleszinski and his team at Boss Key are cooking up, as the hours we've spent playing Unreal and Gears of War throughout the years have earned him our attention. We'll have more as it develops.