Update from September 18, 2026, at 4:44 p.m. BST

On X, Bruce Straley apologized to Santa Monica Studio for mentioning God of War Laufey and causing "uninvited & unnecessary negative attention." He simply said he wanted to offer some thoughts on the industry and AAA games in general. Straley acknowledged that he made a mistake in his argument by citing a specific game.

Original article

There’s a growing sense of fatigue toward big-budget games. These titles typically take years to reach us, and sometimes offer experiences that are, despite everything, not very innovative. This is, for example, one of the criticisms leveled at Marvel’s Wolverine, which was in development for at least five years.

In a newsletter, Bruce Straley offered a similar take on this trend. In the past, Straley spent 18 years at Naughty Dog, where he served as game director on The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. He has now founded Wildflower Interactive and is developing his first game, titled Coven of the Chicken Foot, with this indie studio.

Straley admits that the AAA gaming sector is starting to seriously run out of steam. In his view, the experiences offered by these titles are "boring." In fact, he also didn’t hesitate to take a swipe at God of War Laufey, the next installment in the series scheduled for release on February 16, 2027, on PS5.

"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."