The Last of Us game director stated that AAA games have become "boring" and cited God of War Laufey as an example
Bruce Straley, former Naughty Dog game director who worked on The Last of Us and Uncharted 4, has shipped enough AAA blockbusters to speak with authority about the genre's fatigue. In an interview with Edge magazine, the developer didn't mince words about the state of big-budget game development.
I think the verbs and experiences we're delivering in the triple-A space are… I wanna say boring.
Just, across the board in triple-A, it feels like there's no opportunity to inject fresh, innovative ideas.
Straley admitted he's been holding onto an idea for a AAA game he'd like to make, but quickly added:
I will probably never make it.
These days, Straley runs Wildflower Interactive, a studio devoted – according to its official website – to making "'small-ish,' creatively-charged, uniquely-stylized games." The studio debut title, Coven of the Chicken Foot, follows an old, chicken-footed witch's adventure after heroes leave her land, finally letting her have the forests littered with dropped shields and clean skeletons all to herself, along with her hairy, otherworldly companion creature.
Coven of the Chicken Foot offers pretty much the opposite of what most AAA games deliver. There's no inhumanly beautiful protagonist, no hero role, no buster sword waiting to be found – players just move slowly through a semi-open world, far removed from the genre usual clichés.
That concept is what excites Straley these days, and he made clear he has no interest in chasing something as commercially safe as the next The Last of Us. As an example of what not to do, he pointed to Sony Santa Monica upcoming title.
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.
Straley seems to have joined the growing ranks of developers throwing their weight behind AA games.
- Bruce Straley apologized several times to the developers of God of War Laufey for citing their game as an example of "AAA industry stagnation"
- Saber Interactive's director knows how to avoid layoffs – you need to give up expensive American cities and work on 5-6 small games simultaneously with AAA titles
- The Witcher 3 Songs of the Past scriptwriter wrote her thesis on Hearts of Stone – is the story in good hands?
