Cliffy B appeals for Phil Fish to return to games

Former Epic and Gears of War man Cliff Bleszinski has published an open letter to Fez creator Phil Fish appealing for the outspoken dev to return to the games industry.

Fish made a typically spectacular and loud exit from games earlier this week when, following and argument with a journalist, he announced the cancellation of the recently announced Fez II and his apparent exit from games development.

However, Cliffy B has urged Fish to not let the fact that the internet can be a crappy place deter him from making great titles.

My first time being flamed online happened when I was 15 the summer my father died suddenly from heart issues,” he wrote on his blog. I was learning how to code and I wrote a simple screen saver. I released it and someone anonymously posted ‘Your dead father could have coded something better.’

I was furious, hurt, and I replied with an implied death threat. The website called my house and I got in trouble for the comment, but the damage was done. My skin started to thicken, as did my resolve to do something with my life.

Never underestimate the intestinal fortitude of the anonymous loser hiding behind a monitor and his or her ability to sling vitriol at someone who willingly puts themselves out there. The fact of the matter, Phil, is that you were trending worldwide on Twitter. How many game developers can say that?

Never forget that the internet can be a fantastic thing, but it can also be fantastically dumb.

You don’t owe a damned thing to any gaming journalist. We’ve seen the rise of many ‘Rush Limbaughs’ [right wing American radio personality] in the gaming industry, people who do videos or podcasts digging a finger into an open wound that gets the gaming community going because, hits. You DO owe a great product to your community, something I hope you’ll resume doing some time in the near future.

The industry needs people like you to speak with their hearts before their brains because I’m tired of hearing the PR approved appropriate response. I’m tired of games that feel like they’ve been developed by focus groups or clueless executives going ‘Hey that Call of Duty is big, we need one of those!’

Come back, Phil. We miss you already. Maybe I’ll be right behind you.”