Bruce Straley, best known for his work at Naughty Dog on the Uncharted and The Last of Us franchises, has apologized to God of War: Laufey studio Santa Monica Studio, after he said he was “not excited” about what the game was offering, at least in some respects.
Straley told Edge that he thinks “every pixel” in Laufey looks “mindblowing and that he is “blown away” by the lengths Santa Monica Studio went to. However, Straley said he is “not excited” by “what you’re doing in the game.”
Beyond Laufey, Straley said he feels there is “no opportunity to inject fresh, innovative ideas” in AAA games generally.
A scene from Straley’s new game, Coven of the Chickenfoot.
In a new statement shared on social media, Straley said, “I want to apologize to the Laufey team for dragging you all into this uninvited and unnecessary negative attention.” He said he was trying to make a point about his concerns about the AAA games industry generally, and acknowledged that he made a mistake by naming Laufey specifically.
“I have thoughts about what’s wrong & the possible serious harm done to our industry & how we might be able to fix it. But in trying to have a thoughtful conversation I stuck my foot in my mouth & mentioned Laufey, and that was my mistake,” he said.
Straley said games like Half-Life 2, Gears of War, and BioShock–along with games he worked on, including Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us–“set the ‘modern AAA’ mold.” He said these games felt like “they were trying to creative a new experience within AAA.”
Secondarily, Straley observed that the quest for “games-as-a-service” in a bid to make the next Overwatch or Fortnite is “not a viable strategy and frankly shows these ‘industry leaders’ don’t know their own brand.”
Straley went on to say he believes the gaming industry is suffering from a “lack of good leadership, clear direction, and conviction from the people at the top.” These people are in charge of the money, and therefore determine the stability of the business, he said. “I believe if they understand their brand, they could have honest, inspiring conversations with creators to steer our medium to innovate,” Straley said.
Straley is now working on much smaller games than he made at Naughty Dog. His new independent studio, Wildflower Interactive, is working on the puzzle-platformer Coven of the Chickenfoot. The game has players taking on the role of an elderly witch named Gertie, who works alongside a “creature-companion” that Gertie cannot speak with. Instead, Gertie needs to “discover the creature’s true intentions” in other ways, like through environmental storytelling.
Xbox was originally set to publish Coven of the Chickenfoot before dropping it, according to another developer. It’s still in the works, backed by an unknown financier.