God of War creator David Jaffe had jumped on the opportunity to get involved with the gaming industry again — he's just announced that he's joining the supervisory board of Lust from Beyond developer Movie Games.
David Jaffe has a long history in the gaming world; his career began as a tester at Sony Imagesoft, a company you probably haven't heard of before. That's probably because he began working there before the PlayStation even existed; since then, he created a number of hits in the industry including many of the God of War games and Twisted Metal before slowing things down a bit and shifting to streaming games on YouTube.
Since then, Jaffe has had fun unleashing his unique brand of comedy on the Internet five days a week on his YouTube channel. That's allowed him to enjoy all sorts of new and old games alike, and one of them, in particular, had caught his eye — specifically, Movie Games' latest release Lust from Beyond.
Why God of War creator David Jaffe is Joining Movie Games
Believe it or not, God of War creator's decision to join Movie Games came about as a result of the company's newest release Lust from Beyond. At first, he thought it was going to be a game to make fun of on his YouTube channel, but he quickly realized that there was a lot more to the game than he first thought.
"And I come [upon] this game Lust from Beyond," Jaffe said in a video on Movie Games' YouTube channel. "Now I'm gonna be honest with you, at first, I was just like, 'Well, this looks like a porno game.' Right? That's what I thought it was. [...] That it'll be funny to stream and make fun of. That's what I honestly thought."
"So I download the game, and I'm absolutely sucker-punched," he continued. "I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?' This is a great-looking game, it is a high-quality product. Is there sex? Yeah there's sex, but it's not like a porno game. It is like Heavy Metal magazine back in the day; it is like erotic horror. And I have not seen — in games, for sure — that combination of horror and sexuality and Lovecraftian thematic. It was awesome. I finished it, I loved it."
Jaffe goes on to say that Movie Games reached out to him after he experienced Lust from Beyond and that established a relationship between the two parties. He realized that Movie Games made The Beast Inside — "which I loved," Jaffe noted — and that the company had "cool people."
"So I download the game, and I'm absolutely sucker-punched. I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?' This is a great-looking game, it is a high-quality product." – God of War creator David Jaffe, on Movie Games' New Release Lust from Beyond
Those are some of the reasons that God of War creator David Jaffee is joining Movie Games, but there's something even bigger that's been bothering him. Indie games have been doing well and AAA games have been doing well, but games in "the middle" — that is to say, bigger budget, AA indie games, and the like — have largely been forgotten.
While he still believes that game developers of all sizes make fantastic products, he also feels that mid-sized games are somewhat ignored by larger companies. Essentially, he feels that the big players are somewhat risk-averse compared to the late 90s and early 2000s. In his estimation, smaller teams and sensible budgets are where the most interesting stuff is happening these days.
Mind, Jaffe isn't going to be taking on a huge role within Movie Games; he's going to be a member of the company's board and effectively serving as a consultant for its future projects. That's not all, though — as this interview with Polygamia [Polish] shows, David Jaffe may very well be getting more involved with a future project that's guided by his expert creative vision.
"We haven't talked yet about whether or not we'll make a 'new David Jaffe game' together, but it [might happen]."
What do you think of God of War creator David Jaffe joining Movie Games? Would you like to see him work with them to create a brand-new game in his style? Let us know in the comments below!