The Last of Us Game Director Apologises for Dragging God of War Laufey into 'Boring' AAA Game Discussion

It seems Bruce Straley may have rattled a few cages with his comments on the state of AAA games, as he's felt the need to elaborate on his thoughts — as well as apologise to the team making God of War Laufey.

I think it was pretty clear from his original quote that he didn't intend to slander the work of Santa Monica Studio — it was probably just top of mind when he was thinking about big budget releases.

In the above thread, Straley reiterates that AAA games aren't pushing into new territory as much as they once were, and that risks leaving players feeling apathetic.

Original Story: Bruce Straley, formerly a key senior staff member at Naughty Dog, has aired his grievances with modern AAA games.

In a feature from Edge magazine, which examines the "broken" state of the industry's big budget productions, he shares his distaste for how risk-averse they tend to be.

"I think the verbs and experiences we’re delivering in the triple-A space are… I wanna say boring," Straley says.

He points to God of War Laufey as an example of what he means, stressing that he thinks it looks amazing but the actual gameplay doesn't seem fresh or exciting.

"God of War Laufey, I look at that game, and 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 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."

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