Boss Key Productions' gravity-disrespecting multiplayer shooter is gonna turn the genre on its head.
Alright, let’s be honest. 10 years ago, who the hell thought I’d be here? Well, here I am writing a guest column on the PlayStation Blog.
So yep – I’m back on console, and it’s pretty awesome TBH. PS4 is a new audience for my studio and me (although many people who work with me have shipped PlayStation exclusive titles before). Fun fact: my COO and colleague Arjan Brussee helped found Guerrilla Games. We also made the original Jazz Jackrabbit together, like a bazillion years ago. Small industry. Don’t be a jerk.
We worked out this little writing arrangement with Sony so I could do a proper introduction to all of you and share information about LawBreakers. I feel like it’s something I should do.
Soooooo…
Hi.
I don’t want this to be some lame marketing garble. I’m going to be honest about where I’ve been, what we’ve been doing and where we all are going.
So where have I been?
KINDA SORT-OF LAWBREAKERS ELEVATOR PITCH:
During my “retirement”, honestly, I was bored as hell. My waifu and I were ready to strangle each other. I was getting fat. Ultimately, I couldn’t ignore the creative need to make something new. During this time, I was inspired by a childhood dream about gravity being disrupted in a BIG way. I also took a Zero G flight once. That was pretty crazy. So, LawBreakers is the culmination of my dreams as a kid, my career in this industry and my lifelong passion for games. So there we have the inception (HORN SOUND) of LawBreakers. A new futuristic world where the Moon mysteriously exploded, an event known as The Shattering, that devastated Earth. Afterward society recovered, using new gravity anomalies to rebuild and advance.
The setting is the perfect backdrop for a super fast, omni-directional team-based FPS where we challenge players to get the hell off the ground. The floor is lava, bruh. It’s the skill-based competitive shooter made by shooter fans for shooter players that my team and I have always wanted to play. It honors the old and embraces the new. Old being the feeling of soaring through the air at mach-speed and rocket-jumping and such. The new as offering a variety of characters each with different movement abilities, multiple weapons, combos and more.
For example:
Our “healer” in LawBreakers can be an offensive powerhouse. In the hands of a skilled player, this role can simultaneously heal two teammates at once, all while lobbing grenades from high above like some flying human artillery cannon. Stuff like that is what LawBreakers is all about. Also we’ve added a few new things too, like being able to blind-fire behind you with any ranged weapon. Yep.
So, about where we’ve been: We’ve actually been working on LawBreakers since 2014 after founding my new development studio, Boss Key Productions, with Arjan, and let me tell you, creating a studio and a game from scratch is tough AF. Back then it was PC only and free-to-play. Yes, I can officially say we “course-corrected” (to use awful corporate speak) to pivot away from things like F2P. Why? Because we’ve been listening to community along the way and are trying to do what’s best for players, and in turn, best for the game. Funny how those two things work together, right? Our publisher Nexon has supported us along the way, working with us to do what’s right for gamers, and we respect that. Besides, they got tired of making kart-racing games.
After a few twists and turns last year after our initial Alpha, the game really got in front of a lot of players. There was no NDA so people could post footage, and we found that there was a lot of interest from console players for this very fast, competitive multiplayer game. To be honest my Twitter feed was one part “Bring LawBreakers to console!” or “Fix Gears!” (hah) So, we made something spectacularly vertical. Something heavily skill-based and super competitive, with our twist on game modes that haven’t been done before. We were making the game we wanted to play, and it seemed to resonate. When deciding which platform to bring the game to these players, it was a hard choice. I’ll leave it at that. The choice, obviously, was PS4.
Ok – here’s where we all are going. LawBreakers is coming out this year on PS4 as a digital-only title. Discs are like voicemail, so ten years ago. It’s important to know that something that’s important for the studio and me is to create a game with no season passes and no “pay-to-win” mechanics at a price that is what we feel is fair to players. It will be $29.99. We don’t want to fragment our playbase with silo’d season pass BS, nor do we want to pollute matchmaking with “pay-to-win” incentives. We want to create a game ecosystem that’s all about highly skilled players competing on even playing fields, and a landscape for average players to aspire to become better. More details on launch date soon. Right, PR?
So, in conclusion, I’m excited to ship this bad boy and get it into your grubby hands later this year. Remember to look up!
-B
Cliffy B speaking of things that where 10 years ago pretty much your games. Sorry dude im gonna pass. But hey still play your original games every now and again not mentioning any titles ;) ;) though the new game in the series blows your games out of the water
Gears 4 is the worst one. Apparently you never played the old ones.
@DethFuse
I played all 3 including judgement. And to me Gears 4 kills them all i cant wait to see what The Coalition has instore for Gears 5 coming soon. But thats Xbox and PlayStation so i’ll save that 4 another time
And this is PlayStation*
Me and my friend play through ever Gears game together. Gears 4 was the first time we stopped halfway through and gave up. The story was extremely cheesy with some of the worst characters yet. The gameplay and graphics were good but that it. I did force myself to finish it in solo just in case it got better but unfortunately that never happened. I bought it for $30 on sale and still felt completely ripped off. I hope they just kill the series but they won’t since Xbox doesn’t really have anything else besides Halo and the annual Forza garbage.
Well I hope you try the new game, dude. Myself and 65 people worked really hard on it for the last 2.5 years.
Lauren and I played through G4 and enjoyed it. No need to hate on it, Rod and co did a good job.
I am super pumped for this news! I played this a couple times at PAX east last year (missed attending this year :( ) and I enjoyed every moment of it so this is huge for me, i know i will have several friends of mine on PSN that will be looking forward to this as well thank you cliff you rule!
Four was great!
Two
Four
Three (’cause glitchy)
One
Judgement
And that’s the waaaaaaaaaay the news goes
You’re conveniently not naming any titles because you’re full of crap and nothing but a bored, hungry troll, who can’t grasp enough of the English language to clarify anything with an ounce of credibility. You don’t actually play any of their games, or else you’d have things to say that we’re more productive and encouraging. It’s okay to have your own opinion of what their past games were like, but without having played their new one, you feel qualified to judge it based on nothing concrete, without any input as to how they should improve upon any past mistakes you think they’ve made…? As I said, you’re full of crap. The developers didn’t deserve your post, nor your needless presence here. They were “the bigger man” in your exchange with them, however, because they didn’t resort to stooping to your below average level of idiocy. Don’t let me catch you here again, cretin, or I’ll smite you into the bowels of oblivion, from whence you came.
lol can’t expect much taste from someone that says “Gears of War 4 was better than previous titles.”
This poor guy probably got his ass handed to him in beta because he couldn’t keep up.
Oh no, i’m a PlayStation super fan but Gears 1 and 2 were masterpieces. The original trilogy was cutting edge technically and it introduced a cover mechanic that would be copied until the end of time. Gears 4 is absolute mediocrity compared to Gears 1-3, The Coalition copied the animations from Gears 3 for goodness sake. Gears 4 just wasn’t very good by comparison, it wasn’t an Epic game and it didn’t push the genre creatively or technically hence the average sales and the substandard Metacritic.
Look up Gears 1-3 on Metacritic, they were goty contenders in the 90’s while Gears 4 doesn’t even deserve its 82 Metacritic.
Gears 4 has a laughably cardboard protagonist and even Laura Baily sounded like she was mailing it in. Voice acting was bad.
The visuals were nowhere near cutting edge like Gears 1-3. Honestly the character models were terrible and the core grfx were bad. They just added in a lot of fluff and layered in some fx that’s all. Storms and swaying trees were impressive though.
The campaign was a horrid attempt at capturing the tone of Gears 1. It wasn’t scary and the “monster” enemy types were laughable. The mp was largely a copy paste.
Any chance there will be a demo of the game just to try it out before committing to purchase?
I played the beta on PC and absolutely loved it. It’s the perfect amount of fast-paced skill-based shooting mixed with teamplay. I thought it was a little tough to get used to starting out but after you figure it out you start to feel like a complete badass, especially when your enemies haven’t figured it out yet. And once I found a core set of teammates I had an absolute blast. This game is Titanfall meets Overwatch on steroids. Plus it has AAA quality and graphics. Day one buy on PS4! Can’t wait to play with a controller.
I will take “Titanfall meets Overwatch on steroids” as a back of the box quote, haha. Thanks. Plays surprisingly good with a controller!
Best shooter I’ve played by far, and I’ve played them all.
Cliffy has done it again.
Cliff, I am so happy to see this post this morning. I am very much looking forward to playing this on PS4!
Cliff really promoted last year that this game is PC-only and that it will remain PC-only.
Nah, it will be on all platforms.
Ive been waiting for this game to come to console for so long i signed up for the alpha and beta asap but learned i got into something for pc only ☹.then i read a article saying if it did come to console they wouldnt be the ones to port it and now its here .
Long story short take my money
Price point announced shortly. I think you’ll be pleased!
It’s @MondayNytMiller
Thanks, man. I loved your work for a very long time. Good luck with everything Lawbreakers.
I’ve been playing on PC and if anyone is curious if this is an Overwatch clone, I have the answer: nope! It’s not Battleborn. It’s Unreal Tournament with locked down characters with their own unique abilities. The main gameplay mode I’ve played on is a capture the zone mode with 3 zones. The center zone has a zero gravity field that is a lot of fun jumping around in and reminds me of the gelatinous-like cube from UT that slows down weapon projectiles and players. It’s a lot of fun with some friends.
Yeah we were going for kind of a rebirth of a shooter but for modern tastes. Also you can beat any character with any other if you play it right; we didn’t want to focus on the meta too hard as some games do.
I’m blocked from reading your tweets and I have no idea why. Kinda sucks. Incredibly looking forward to this game and I’ll be there day 1.
What’s your twitter handle so I can unblock you? I have an auto blocker that can be over eager.
It’s @MondayNytMiller
Thanks, man. I loved your work for a very long time. Good luck with everything Lawbreakers.
Fixed.
Cliffy B any beta 4 ps4 in the future
Can’t frickin wait for this game. I’ve played the beta on PC and loved it. I also live in Raleigh and love that a local developer is kicking ass. Need any PR/marketing employees?
Yay Raleigh! Not hiring in that area atm, but appreciate the support!
I’m a sucker for games with interesting movement mechanics/navigation mechanics, e.g. Mirror’s Edge, Dying Light, Gravity Rush, Warframe, etc. So I’ll definitely be keeping this on my radar
Well its about time….Been waiting for this. Will there be a beta?
Most likely. Always practice your lines before going on stage.
This is awesome news! one question will matches be hosted on dedicated servers or p2p?
Dedicated AF.
Sold!
Now this is awesome news! I was hoping for a console release because I was getting demolished during the closed beta on PC because I was using a controller. Please have a beta for PS4 owners!
I don’t know but everything about this game screams “been there done that”. There is nothing special about this. sigh
Hopefully you’ll still give it a try!
Just like clockwork “meh” guy shows up right on time. :)
Yep, another clockwork “meh” guy. They’re the naysayers who only use the pictures to form their opinions. It’s not even the cover of the book that’s being used to dismiss the entire idea that this game MIGHT be good or even great, given half a chance. I’m always up for something new or different, but even if it’s more of the same, there’s nothing wrong with that either.
I was hoping you would reply with something that might actually help me understand what makes this experience unique. This reply though proves that you and your game is a joke.
I actually went to YouTube (because no gameplay footage was provided here) to see what the game actually looked and played like. The cinematics are great but they aren’t the game. Nothing in the footage made me feel like this was a unique experience.
Any chance there was of me trying the game has been erased by your wonderful leader Cliff Bleszinski. o/
Ah this was hilarious! The only joke here is you, clearly blind Seraph.
When I saw title, I thought another game like Payday? The trailer sort of starts out like that, but the more it goes on the more it looks like its some kind of Overwatch type game.
I prefer single player or co-op games and this it seems will have a competitive focus. Still cool trailer (even if it didn’t show any gameplay at this time).
There is plenty of gameplay footage from Beta on Youtube.
Love you Cliff
I am ITCHING to play more of this game!
30$ is a STEAL!
The game-play is buttery smooth and fluid!
Had the option of playing this or Quake Champions all weekend and it was a no-brainer!
Super excited that it’s coming to PS4!
As an OW fan – I can say this is easily on par. Which is impressive. Same level of polish.
Slightly faster paced, and as Cliff said less meta focused and less hard counters.
And a pinch of Unreal/Quake (which I love).
This game is going to make a lot of gamers happy, and ruin many relationships.
Waiting on the next beta, and that release date.
Thanks a ton, you’re getting exactly what we’re going for! Less meta = less frustration, haha.
Alright Cliff, let us test it in an open beta or something. And keep the price tag at 30 CAD in canada and I will buy your game, damn it.
You missed 2 betas already, don’t miss the 3rd.
Cliff Blezinki was anti-PS last gen if you guys remember… Stuff like
“I suppose this puts the nail in the coffin of the question “Will Gears ever come to Playstation?”
https://gamerant.com/cliff-bleszinsk…-gears-of-war/
And? Do you go through life holding onto every grudge? Not a good look.
Well said…feel sorry for the so called PS gamers that support people who once were against Sony and PS in some form.Can only say one thing:If they happen to make a good games…get them at the lowest price possible,thats how you show them not to say BS about the greatest gaming community ever.
Played this at the private event during PAX West in 2015, and on the floor at 2016 (and got a free hat & stuff for being first place) Almost wrote it off due to the fact that while I was a PC gamer at heart once, I really like playing with my friends on console.
Glad to see you chose the right platform :)
As to people saying it looks like more of the same, don’t knock it til you try it, it’s actually way fun and gave me some unreal tourney type nostalgia while fully embracing the aesthetic of current gen graphics. But most importantly, it’s mechanically sound. It just “feels” right when you blast people out of the sky.
ALSO MAJOR PROPS for only charging 29.99 for this, While I like Overwatch and everything, it should have never stuck the middle finger to console players by only allowing the $60 edition for purchase. $20 for skins literally nobody uses and have zero exclusivity on because not only is everyone forced to have them, but because they were obsolete the minute they came out with new event skins.
” Discs are like voicemail, so ten years ago. ”
So’s my interest in this game apparently. No Disc, No Buy. Sure I buy my online titles digitally usually, but my entire team that I normally play with tends to gravitate towards the physical releases. This leads to Zero Incentive for me to buy this game. Thanks for Alienating my squad.
Really bro? An online only multiplayer game and you want a physical disc? Like every COD or Battlefield game is a collector’s item or something? Not like it will have any resale value. And for only $30, what’s the beef? Would you prefer to pay $50 or $60 and get a disc?
Tell you what you point me to a game on PS4 that is twice as much on disc day one as it is on PSN and I’ll pay the difference. Because this isn’t the Nintendo Switch. Sony has a flexible model with its partners were titles are as low as 30 dollars at release.
As far as Value. You’d be surprised how value holds for online titles. From Warhawk to Overwatch, the depreciation factor is no where near as bad as you make it out to be unless its an annualized franchise, which oh my, thats what you referenced.
So yes, I’ll take the physical disc. It’s not like the servers will evaporate if its a good game. If I don’t like it, at least I won’t be shackled to it and can get some of my money back. Beta or no. I’m interested in this game, but if my squad won’t buy, I won’t buy. Simple as that. The reason for that is clear.
People still use CDs? What year is it?
Was not expecting this. With so many shooters on the market at any given time, I think it’s always important for games like Lawbreakers to exist. It just feels so good in motion, and thank God there isn’t any “rich physics simulations” getting in the way of 60fps *cough* got some Bungie in my throat. Really exited to put more time into this.
Hey no reason to toss Bungie under the bus. Their game has a ton of shit going on. We’re more focused on a more intimate 5v5 experience. (I still hate 30 fps though.)
Good to see you here Cliffy! Good job on the price point, hopefully your game will be a hit. Can we expect PS4 PRO support? Also, it’d (or will) be great to see you on Sony’s stage at E3 ;)
Yes, it’ll support PS4 PRO! That sweet 4k.
Cliffy B, you got me years ago with a gun mounted chainsaw… and now i’m looking forward to this one. Perfect marketing and price point. Only question is how multiplayer will be arranged. Server or peer?
Server based! Thanks for the support!
“It honors the old and embraces the new. Old being the feeling of soaring through the air at mach-speed and rocket-jumping and such. The new as offering a variety of characters each with different movement abilities, multiple weapons, combos and more.”
and that’s where you messed up my friend Y_Y
No class BS, no ability BS, no cosmetic BS. JUST PURE SKILL V SKILL BASED PVP with 0 grav then this game wins all day. make it happen Cliff.
ON IT, SON.
lol wtf? no classes? get back to CS:GO
i’m pretty sure i know the answer but i don’t think i see it said explicitly,.. is this a pvp-only title?
no hate from me if that’s the case but i’m personally a campaign-mostly, pvp dabbler kind of guy.
Fantastic news about Lawbreakers! I especially like hearing about it not being riddled with Pay to Win and Season Passes gimmicks. That’s totally unreal.
I’ve been a fan of Mr. Bleszinski’s work since the original Unreal was released. I got so many good memories of the Unreal franchise, including absolutely corrupting my fellow graduate students when I put Unreal Tournament on our office Mac.
Lawbreakers will be a day one purchase for me. I am so looking forward to it and so should everybody else!
Good news, as even though I’ve had an Alpha/Beta code I was finally able to give it a shot during the last Beta period and my computer is sadly way too slow to run it, no matter how much I dropped the graphics down. Admittedly, it is an old Alienware gaming laptop, but it’s actually been surprisingly decent at playing stuff until now. It’ll be nice to try it out on PS4. Hopefully there will be a PS4 beta as well? =)
Love how brutally honest and open you have been about the whole development on this game. I’ve been eagerly waiting for the next thing from you since the day you left Epic and I must say I am not disappointed by how this looks at all. One question: How much Ice T in this?
What was the most challenging part of creating this game and how did you overcome it?
Still waiting on Fortnight
In all seriousness though, loved the LB beta! Wish it was longer!
CliffyB – who would’ve guessed you’d show up in here!. Fan garble aside(I played your games from 10 years ago. Partying like it was 1999, it was the bomb..man you rock!)
That was a great platform then, (TBH it makes me even happier reading this today since) the PS4 is my favourite platform this generation.
Had no idea you were working on this. Price point is great. Day 1 purchase for me.
Keep up the great work CliffyB + crew! :)
Well what a surprise… Of all games announced for other platforms, Lawbreakers was one that I was absolutely sure it would never come to PS4, because, you know…
I’m glad I was wrong…
Basically, I’m a sucker for multiplayer games that brings new variables to the field, that defies the norm.
I loved Starhawk and The Last Of Us multiplayer, I’m addicted to Paragon, but I don’t care for Battlefield, COD or Killzone.
Overwatch unfortunately annoys me with the Pixar-like characters, it’s not for me. Don’t need to be badass or macho-man, just not childish.
Happily, Lawbreakers, based on what I saw, seems to be the hero FPS I was waiting for.
The price is right, and the micro-transactions are fine.
If it’s good, Day1 for sure!
you though that because he said it never would.
Honestly, even bigger than he saying it would be PC exclusive, the speech when developing Gears was a major factor that made me believe this kind of collaboration would never happen. Sort of like Gabe Newell on PS stage.
Anyway, it’s great move nonetheless, kudos for CliffyB and his team, can’t wait to try it!
Lookin’ forward to giving it a go!
Funny.. Cliff said this was NEVER coming to console.
He never said that, try looking it up.
you didn’t look hard enough then.
Shoutout to all the PS4 gamers from a PC games. My in game handle is Realmjumper. John the discussion on Discord and the Lawbreakers forums. See you in game!
Glad to see Cliff B has gone back to his roots of Unreal Tournament.
This is going to be game of the year for sure, by far the best shooter to date.
Looking forward to it Cliff!
My husband and I played a *lot* of Unreal Tournament 3 on PS3: it was one of the only shooters where we enjoyed the online experience, and it supported community mods so we got to try a lot of experimental maps.
I’m excited to hear PS4 Pro will be taken advantage of, but don’t forget Pro players who are on 1080p displays! For Pro, will you be targeting 1800p with checkerboarding or native 4K? I’d love to see more Pro titles go for multi-bounce global illumination and real ambient-occlusion beyond screen space — any goodies like that up your sleeve? :)
Any special use of the DualShock 4 in the motion controls, touch pad, light bar, etc?
Can you talk about if there are any female/trans/non-binary characters?
Really looking forward to this, I think the price point is a good sweet spot for a digital-only AA title.
Check out gameplay footage, there are 6 female characters.
Just had to say thanks for the replies to all the comments. That alone commands respect around here as far as I’m concerned.
LawBreakers looks like a lot of fun and I really like the transparency of the development and path forward after release.
Would prefer a disc, but at $30, I will definitely download.
Mr. Bleszinski, mind you this is a compliment but you and the ex-professional skater Chad Muska always remind me of each other. Just how hyped you both get when you talk and your facial features. I know, weird.
Saw this game a year ago n thought this game looks great but then found out it was a pc exclusive… so glad to here that’s changed a definite buy from me.
Hear hate the spell checker on my ipod
“Hear” hate the spell checker on my ipod
I hope to get to try the beta i got into the alpha for pc but my computer is so outdated its not even funny ether way I will be buying this game
demo or beta we need it
Look everyone is talking about Gears, I never liked gears after 2 for the fact the way online was set up after Gears 2 but these guys made a dope as game yes Gears, LawBreakers sounds like jt will be fun. Every game Ive played that has been free on PS4 has been fun from Trans Galactic too Paladin which have made my top games to play. Any game company can make a Military Based Shooter. COD, BF can suck it. I want creativity. I like low end games I have Found in the long run their the funniest too play. I hope they give A Beta test.
Thanks,
Neva
First off I appreciate the honesty and how the article was written. I appreciate it not just being your average run-of-the-mill sales pitch. I’ll definitely be checking the game out, why not right? The shooter genre has a severe lack of interesting new IP these days so hopefully this can be something we can get competitive with. If I have to play one more CoD clone idk what I’ll do. Thanks for Jazz Jackrabbit and Gears btw Cliff Bleszinski.
PS: The Robin character model from Injustice 2 when shot at certain angles looks like you… just saying. Keep up the good work I look forward to playing Lawbreakers
Can’t wait to play this it looks so cool and fun. I love the idea of gravity defying while shooting at each other. The trailer has me excited. Also I loved Jazz Jackrabbit back in the DOS days.
Hey Cliff, I been following lawbreakers since your first beta on PC, even tho I don’t have a PC. But is Ps4 getting a beta, I want to test your game out so bad, sign up for the beta while back, but codes haven’t been sent to ps4 players yet I guess. I always bought lawbreakers soon as it went live on Playstation store. So I well be on lawbreakers when it go live, request a day off work for it as well.