Boss Key Productions’ BlueStreak may seem rather innocuous on the surface but it’s created by one of the most controversial – and successful – veterans in the gaming industry, Cliff Bleszinski. Of all the things to shock potential players though, the news that BlueStreak would be a free to play shooter was most intriguing. Would the game support something like, say, micro-transactions?

Bleszinski was asked as much in a recent Reddit AMA and responded that, “Free to Play is one of those genres that means something entirely different depending on the game. For every model that feels like Las Vegas methods (Zynga, Candy Crush) there’s folks who do it right, like League of Legends, or WarFrame.

“I’ve never shipped a Free to Play game before. That’s one of the MANY reasons why we’re going with Nexon, they can provide server structures and a global peek into gamers of all types and guide us into a game that’s more ‘Shut up and take my money’ as opposed to ‘shaking you down for your hard earned cash.’ So we’ll experiment, tweak, tune, and most importantly, build a positive community around the game as we develop it.”

Bleszinski is insistent in making sure that “anyone can just jump in and play your darned game” but wants to avoid a “pay to win scenario”.

“Since this game is a shooter I want that one player who likes the game and doesn’t feel like spending any money to be able to take down the trust fund kid that’s spent a ton of money to have All The Stuff.

“I want to make a skill based game whereas someone who is really, really good is seen as a player with nearly amazing abilities. Sure, once in a while the person who sucks might get lucky with a stray shot and take that person down, but I want to craft a game that has weapons and moves that are easy to learn but to really make them sing takes thousands of hours of play just like a professional athlete would. Anyone can toss a football, but Drew Brees can get it through the tire at X yards every time.”

Thoughts on the same? Let us know below.

Cliff Bleszinski finally revealed his newest project BlueStreak, which is developed by Boss Key Productions and published by Korean games publisher Nexon. It will be a free to play arena shooter and apparently in the vein of “an old favourite” according to Bleszinski.

“Creating fun and memorable shooters is in my DNA, and making the move to free-to-play games is all about maximizing the potential audience for your title while embracing where the industry is headed.

“No one knows the free-to-play market better than Nexon, which is why they were the obvious partner to publish BlueStreak. It’s a game and concept I think will really resonate with players who have been clamoring for a new take on an old favorite. After all, I’ve had a year and a half to plan it.”

Does that mean a return to the Unreal Tournament-style formula which made Bleszinski as a designer? We’ll find out in the coming months.

Cliff Bleszinski has finally announced the first game that his new studio Boss Key Productions will be creating: BlueStreak, a currently code-named shooter that will be published in partnership with Korean online publisher Nexon.

Bleszinski stated on his Twitter that, “Friends, @BossKey will be working with Nexon to publish a Free2Play Sci-Fi PC arena shooter code named #BlueStreak. #BossKey #UnlockTheFun”. He further added that there will not be a “fake CG trailer showing ‘Gameplay’ because that’s not how Bosskey does it.” So, Cliffy B is back in the games industry and already picking fights. Good times as always.

There’s very little known about BlueStreak at this time aside from the fact that it stems from Bleszinski’s desire to create a “proper arena shooter”. It will be a first person though, which is pretty much Bleszinski’s calling card (and which has resulted in some of the best shooters till date like Unreal Tournament and Gears of War).

What are your thoughts on Project BlueStreak? Let us know in the comments.