The Future of Shooters is RPGs

While we’ve never had any reason to follow Epic’s outspoken designer Cliff Bleszinksi in the past, it’s worth noting some recent comments he made about the direction FPS titles are heading. It sounds like we might see an FPS/RPG hybrid out of Epic yet:

Bleszinski’s comments followed his praise of Ken Levine for his work on Bioshock, a first-person shooter that is sometimes considered an RPG in disguise.

(There was a time when the industry warmed down,) Bleszinski added, (and then Bioshock came along.)

True to form, Bleszinski was cryptic when discussing the Gears franchise in this light. When asked if it was important that the Gears series remains innovative in the future, he said:

(It depends on where things go. I mean, one could wean that from the comments I made earlier about the future of shooters is RPGs and see where things are going with us.)

He did not, of course, explicitly say that he was working on a certain shooter title that would incorporate RPG elements.