Following his statement on the current AAA gaming landscape, where he described upcoming games like God of War Laufey as looking boring, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and The Last of Us director Bruce Straley has apologized to the developers at Santa Monica Studio and has offered more details about his opinions.
In a series of social media posts, Straley discussed the unique nature of gaming as a medium for storytelling, and how not too many games have been able to escape the “modern AAA” mold that was defined by titles like 2004’s Half-Life 2, 2007’s BioShock, and 2013’s The Last of Us, among other games.
“I want to apologize to the Laufey team for dragging you all into this uninvited & unnecessary negative attention. I was trying to illustrate an industry concern & my mistake of naming your game is being used out of context & for clickbait. You don’t need this. I’m sorry.”
“My hypothesis: Our medium is unique because players are DOING a thing. There’s a different physiological response than viewers who just WATCH a movie. This requires us creators to continue to push & create new experiences, or we run the risk of diminishing players’ dopamine.”
He went on to discuss how AAA gaming has been harmed by “the platforms that need to bring stability” due to a lack of willingness to innovate, especially in light of many companies chasing the live-service bandwagon in the hopes of getting their next big hit.
“Hot take: There’s a lack of good leadership, clear direction, and conviction from the people at the top, in charge of the money. (Money = stability) I believe if they understand their brand, they could have honest, inspiring conversations with creators to steer our medium to innovate.”
“ANYWAY… blah blah blah. I have thoughts about what’s wrong and the possible serious harm done to our industry and how we might be able to fix it. But in trying to have a thoughtful conversation, I stuck my foot in my mouth and mentioned Laufey, and that was my mistake.”
Straley’s statement about AAA gaming came just last week. While he didn’t outright criticize the upcoming God of War Laufey, and even went as far as to note that “every pixel is mind-blowing”, he acknowledged that there is little in the way of innovation in the title when it comes to gameplay.
“God of War Laufey, I look at that game, and every pixel is mind-blowing. The amount of work and skill that’s gone into every single frame… I’ve made those kinds of games, and I’m still blown away. But when I actually look at what you’re doing in the game? I’m not excited. And that’s nothing against the God of War team. Just, across the board in triple-A, it feels like there’s no opportunity to inject fresh, innovative ideas.”
While mentioning God of War Laufey may have made Straley’s statement accidentally sound more inflammatory than it would have been without any mention of the game, it is worth noting that he does have a point, and Sony has followed a strict formula when it comes to its first-party games following the success of the Uncharted franchise and 2013’s The Last of Us. The formula can be seen across titles like 2018’s God of War to this year’s Marvel’s Wolverine.
