Bruce Straley called the new AAA projects, including God of War Laufey, boring
- Strayly believes that modern AAA games lack originality
- He called the upcoming God of War Laufey 'sterile'
- Founded Wildflower Interactive, working on Coven of the Chicken Foot
- The game currently has no release date, available on wishlisted Steam
Bruce Strayly, who led the development of the first parts of The Last of Us and Uncharted 4, gave an interview to Edge magazine. This was reported by GamesRadar+, conveying the main thoughts of the former head of Naughty Dog.
According to Strayly, most new major projects suffer from a severe lack of fresh ideas. In his opinion, modern AAA games often repeat already proven schemes, offering players nothing truly new.
As an illustration, he mentioned the upcoming release of God of War Laufey, noting that despite the high budget and visual appeal, the game looks 'sterile' and does not offer an original gaming experience.
Strayli himself also admitted that he has a concept for his own AAA project, but he is skeptical about its realization in the current conditions of the industry, where large publishers often fear to take risks.
Bruce Strayli left Naughty Dog in 2017 and founded the independent studio Wildflower Interactive in 2021. The company focused on developing a more experimental product — a puzzle-platformer called Coven of the Chicken Foot.
The new project of Wildflower Interactive
In the game, the player controls a girl named Gertie, who explores a semi-open world accompanied by an unusual creature. The game partner reacts to the heroine's actions, gradually developing its own skills, which should add dynamics to the puzzle-solving process.
The project is already available for adding to the wishlist on Steam, but the exact release date has not yet been announced.
Streili also noted that major Sony projects often follow a similar pattern: combat, limited upgrade options, resource gathering, stealth, simple puzzles, and dialogues with a partner. This predictability, in his opinion, is due to the high risk: large budgets make studios avoid innovation.
At the same time, smaller developments can afford to experiment, but this idea has been discussed in the industry for a long time. Historically, Sony tried different formats back in the PlayStation 3 era, but many of these attempts ended in failure and financial losses. After that, the company focused on proven practices that guarantee sales.
In the slasher genre, apart from Devil May Cry 5, there have been no other major hits. Even highly anticipated projects like Bayonetta 3 and Astral Chain did not achieve high sales, despite their quality execution and relative casualness.
Source: StopGame
