Naughty Dog studio veteran Bruce Straley has officially apologized to the Santa Monica studio for citing God of War Laufey as an example of the stagnancy of the modern AAA segment.
The reason for this is a recent interview with Edge magazine, in which the game director criticized the financial management of large companies for their unwillingness to take risks and the lack of innovation in blockbusters after a 20-year cycle of stasis in game mechanics.
Straley said his comments were taken out of context for headline-baiting purposes, though he still believes the industry is lacking in bold ideas and that investors are too cautious, preferring to chase the short-lived success of real-time service projects. Although the criticism was directed at the system as a whole, the developer admitted that mentioning specific games was a mistake and spoke publicly to the Santa Monica Studio team.