David Jaffe, the creator, co-writer, and director for the original God of War game, has cleared up his viral comments about Ariel Lawrence, creative director for Laufey.
Ariel Lawrence has been with the God of War franchise since its very first game — but creator David Jaffe, who left the series behind in 2007 to form his own studio, says he never got along with her during his time at Santa Monica Studio.
He described their contentious work relationship in a September 2026 live stream while reacting to footage for God of War Laufey, where he claimed their personalities clashed and that he didn’t feel as though she was truly passionate about the games they were making.
“I have no problem with female directors at all,” he began. “This woman started as an assistant producer back when we were making the first God of War. Her and I never got along. She thought I was kind of obnoxious and I thought she was pretentious. She didn’t put the audience first.
“People that I didn’t get along with on God of War were people, in my opinion, who were more about, ‘I wanna do well in the corporate world… I want to play the game,’ versus, ‘I’m here with a vision and I will f**kin’ fight you for that vision.’ There was a lack of passion I felt from her, and she was also kind of a judgy asshole, to me.”
Jaffe also slammed Cory Barlog for making Laufey in the first place — which he called a “stupid” game — and asked why he couldn’t “sit Ariel down and say, ‘This isn’t ready.’”
Jaffe’s comments unsurprisingly went viral, sparking a debate within the God of War fanbase and the broader gaming community in general. Not long afterward, Jaffe took to Twitter/X to expound upon his remarks, where he called out those using his statement to harass Lawrence online.
“Look, I personally didn't like Ariel and I don't THINK she cared much for me back when we worked together. Oil and Water, just very different types of people. And honestly, she was probably more liked on the team than I was. You see, if you haven't noticed, I can be, as my ex-wife says, 'a lot,’” he wrote.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.ign.com/articles/original-god-of-war-creator-defends-laufeys-creative-director-from-harassment-after-his-critical-remarks-go-viral
