The Last of Us Director Says He’s “Not Excited” About the Current State of AAA Games
The past decade of gaming has brought along many success stories and modern classics. However, compared to the early 2000s and 2010s, it can be argued that the number of titles, especially great ones, has slowed down. For many, this could be due to the fact that games just don’t seem to be taking enough chances. Unfortunately, it seems the game director of The Last of Us isn’t too hopeful that change will happen anytime soon.
For many, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is considered one of the best titles to come out in the 2010s. The story-driven zombie action title took home many awards back in 2013, leading to a great (but controversial) sequel, as well as an Emmy-winning show from HBO. While the franchise still has juice in it, not everyone from its creative team is still at Naughty Dog. One such person is former director Bruce Straley, who left in 2017 to start Wildflower Interactive and the upcoming Coven of the Chicken Foot. Now indie, the creative had some choice words for the future of AAA titles.
Former Naughty Dog Director Calls Out AAA Studios for Lack of Innovative Ideas
In an interview with Edge Magazine on the gaming industry, Bruce Straley was asked about the state of the industry. While he’s since left Naughty Dog to start his own studio, he directed attention to one of PlayStation’s other developers, Santa Monica Studio.
“God of War Laufey, I look at that game, and every pixel is mind-blowing,” Straley said. “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 AAA, it feels like there’s no opportunity to inject fresh, innovative ideas.”
After the article was published, Straley apologized on X for bringing up God of War Laufey in particular. While many AAA games have experimented with new systems and genres, one can see where he is coming from. A lot of that innovation isn’t coming from AAA studios like it used to, but from smaller indie teams pushing boundaries. For example, it can be surmised that roguelikes wouldn’t be on the rise if it wasn’t for games like Hades and Dead Cells bringing it out.
At the same time, it does seem a little harsh to claim everything that AAA studios are doing isn’t innovative enough. Not every big title needs to build upon a genre, add a ton to it, or take big leaps. Risks are, well, risky things to do when games take twice as long to make and cost a lot more money, so keeping things safe is a reasonable call. Even still, sometimes, it’s the way it shows off said gameplay, like, for example, Onimusha: Way of the Sword. It doesn’t innovate on the action formula, but it does build on it to make it more fluid and flashy. Still, it’ll be interesting to see if Straley’s comments hold true with the plethora of titles coming soon, like Grand Theft Auto 6 and, of course, God of War Laufey.