From IGN · Cade Onder · · 1m 10s
Last of Us director calls AAA games boring
Bruce Straley says big-budget games lack fresh ideas, even criticizing God of War's gameplay despite its visual polish.
In brief
Bruce Straley says big-budget games lack fresh ideas, even criticizing God of War's gameplay despite its visual polish. The game director who helped define modern AAA games now finds them repetitive and lacking innovation. Originally reported by IGN.
AAA games are boring now
Bruce Straley, game director of The Last of Us and Uncharted, says modern big-budget games lack excitement and fresh ideas.
God of War looks amazing
Straley praises God of War Laufey's visuals as mindblowing. But he's not excited by what you actually do in the game.
“God of War Laufey, I look at that game, and every pixel is mindblowing.”
No room for innovation
Straley says triple-A development feels like there's no opportunity to inject fresh, innovative ideas across the board.
“It feels like there's no opportunity to inject fresh, innovative ideas.”
He helped create the problem
The irony is that Uncharted and The Last of Us became the blueprint for today's hyper-cinematic third-person action games.
Burnout drove him out
Straley left Naughty Dog in 2017 after Uncharted 4, experiencing extensive burnout from the intensive AAA development process.
Now making smaller games
Straley now runs Wildflower Interactive. His first game, Coven of the Chicken Foot, is a big departure from his Naughty Dog work.
The essence
The game director who helped define modern AAA games now finds them repetitive and lacking innovation.
