Naughty Dog legend slams triple-A games like God of War: Laufey, then apologises

Bruce Straley made some of the best games PlayStation has ever put out. So when he says he’s bored of triple-A, that carries weight. The problem was who he named on the way there.

Talking to EDGE, the former Naughty Dog director behind Uncharted 2, Uncharted 4, and The Last of Us admitted he’s stopped getting excited by big-budget games, even the gorgeous ones. God of War Laufey was his example, and he wasn’t shy about it:

I think the verbs and experiences we’re delivering in the triple-A space are, I wanna say, boring. 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.

He’s not wrong, objectively. But of all the games he could’ve picked, Laufey was the worst choice. The protagonist swap from Kratos to Laufey, that odd cosmic cube sidekick, the game’s already been dragged through enough discourse without a Naughty Dog veteran piling on.

Straley clearly clocked that too, because he posted on X apologising straight to Santa Monica Studio:

I want to apologize to the God of War Laufey team for dragging you all into this uninvited and unnecessary negative attention. I have thoughts about what’s wrong and the possible serious harm done to our industry and how we might be able to fix it. But in trying to have a thoughtful conversation, I stuck my foot in my mouth and mentioned Laufey, and that was my mistake.

You guys need to know the context. The original quote came from a wider EDGE piece with several industry veterans picking apart what’s gone wrong with game development, not a hit piece on one studio. Straley’s also been out of Naughty Dog for nine years now, building an indie puzzle platformer called Coven of the Chicken Foot, so this isn’t a rival studio taking shots.

God of War Laufey still ships February 16, 2027, PS5 exclusive. Straley’s take will either age well or get buried under launch-day praise. We’ll find out soon enough.

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