The Last of Us director apologizes for using God of War Laufey as an example of "lack" of innovation in AAA: "This isn't the team's fault"

"I want to apologize to the Laufey team for dragging you all into this uninvited & unnecessary negative attention," Straley writes in a September 18 Twitter post. "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."

Let me remind you of the original context. Straley spoke to Edge for issue 428 – currently available for purchase – about how he finds AAA development, and especially the money men that fund it, "boring." He mentioned God of War Laufey as a big-budget title he finds visually attractive but seemingly unsatisfying in gameplay, saying, "Every pixel is mindblowing. 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," he added, "when I actually look at what you're doing in the game? I'm not excited."

Straley disclaimed at the time, "That's nothing against the God Of War team. Just, across the board in AAA, it feels like there's no opportunity to inject fresh, innovative ideas."

So now, the game vet behind behemoths like The Last of Us and Uncharted 2 doesn't quite take back what he said, but he is more repentant.

Straley reiterates in his Twitter thread that, during his Edge interview, "I mentioned a few concerns. One being the lack or innovation & risks taken in the AAA space. Tho this isn't the [God of War Laufey] team's fault! My fear is that our player base is getting tired of playing the same verbs for the last 20 years."

هەفتانە هەرسکردنەکان، چیرۆکەکانی ئەو کۆمەڵگایانەی کە خۆشت دەوێن و زۆر شتی تر

He names other examples, including his own work, as what formed "the 'modern AAA' mold";