David Jaffe, best known as the outspoken director of Twisted Metal and God of War, is now targeting the PC with more outspoken speaking on what he hates about the free-to-play model and his plans to build a better "free-to-play, browser-based, third-person shooter." My hyphen key may not survive this post.
In an interview with GamesIndustry International , Jaffe discussed his recruitment process and revealed what he's been up to since leaving developer Eat, Sleep, Play.
"From that spectrum of games I had [in mind], I had people saying, 'Hey Jaffe, we want you to come work on this big triple- or quadruple-A next-gen thing' and the kind of team you need for that is very different from what we're ultimately doing, which is a free-to-play, browser-based, third-person shooter," he said.
Jaffe also explained what he loves and hates about free-to-play games, saying that he loves the "instant-on" and "low to no barrier to entry," but hates the "pay with your time or pay with your money" defense of microtransactions.
"You can listen to developers all day long tell you it's not pay to win, but you know, it kind of is pay to win," he said. "I'm not saying they're evil or they're lying -- but one of the things they like to say is pay with your time or pay with your money. Well both of those are really shitty."
"Let's take a shooter -- if you think about what's happened with shooters, so much of what makes shooters today work (and it's unfortunate that sometimes it's the only thing that makes them work besides graphics and spectacle) is sort of the morphine drip of powering up and leveling up. So if you're saying pay with your time, you're saying have sort of a crappy time because we're stretching out those morphine drips really long because we want to motivate you to pay. And if you pay immediately and get the really cool stuff, then suddenly you don't have that meta desire for a while to go back to it and to want to keep playing."
Jaffe didn't explain exactly how he'll implement the free-to-play model in a way that doesn't "f**k it all up," but he does go on to discuss Kickstarter, how much we love Tim Schafer, and say more asterisk'd words. Read the whole interview over at GamesIndustry International .
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Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.
