Gears of War's creator has commented on the success of Palworld, revealing that he once pitched his own Pokemon-like at Epic Games "many years ago."
Cliff Bleszinski, who is primarily known for his work on the Gears of War series, has taken to Twitter to share an interesting insight into his career and touch on the most recent Pokemon-like survival game to take the world by storm. "Palworld's success kinda validates my pitch that was turned down at Epic many years ago," the developer shares, before revealing it was a "medieval Pokemon" style game with baby dragons.
Understandably, fans of CliffyB had a lot of questions about this mysterious canned project. When asked how many pitches he's had turned down, Bleszinski replied: "Well the dragon game was rejected at all the major publishers. And there was another project I started at Epic that was canceled about a girl who could control the world at a molecular level - open world." This just shows how many games don't make it past the pitching stage.
- "We hit this disgusting number that makes me feel sick": Palworld devs don't know why their survival game was so successful - "If we knew how to do it, we'd do it again"
- Palworld devs tried, but the "certain franchise plus guns" brand in the West "has stuck with us to this very day despite our best efforts to shake that off"
Palworld's success kinda validates my pitch that was turned down at Epic many years ago - medieval Pokémon with baby dragons instead.January 25, 2024
Another fan asked the developer what Epic's reasoning was behind turning the game down, to which he said: "It just...never went anywhere," and revealed: "I wanted to do it on mobile first." Sadly, it's unlikely that Bleszinski will revisit the idea, as he's revealed: "Epic owns the overall idea." Everyone involved is probably kicking themselves now, as Palworld is the second-ever Steam game to hit 2 million concurrent players - less than 10 days after its release.
This isn't the only thing the Gears of War veteran had to share recently. Over the weekend, CliffyB took to Twitter once again to share a statement on the possibility of returning to the series. "We've been over this a million times," the developer writes. "I'm down to consult. Give my two cents. [...] MS/Coalition haven't hit me up. OK. It is what it is." Bleszinski continues: "If they were smart, they'd enlist me."
Take a look at our Palworld type chart and element weaknesses guide if you're still trying to get to grips with the survival game.
