David Scott Jaffe (born April 13, 1971) is an American video game designer best known for directing the Twisted Metal and God of War series.[1][2] In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.[3]
David Jaffe | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 13, 1971 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Known for | Twisted Metal series God of War series |
| Website | criminalcrackdown |
Biography
editJaffe is originally from Birmingham, Alabama and currently resides in San Diego, California.[4] He was born to a Jewish family. Jaffe graduated from Alabama's Mountain Brook High School, located in Mountain Brook, AL, a suburb of Birmingham. Jaffe then attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.[5]
Jaffe is known for directing the Twisted Metal series and God of War. Jaffe's Twisted Metal: Black and God of War have both ranked into IGN's "Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time", with Twisted Metal: Black in ninth place and God of War winning first place as IGN's best PS2 game of all time.[6] In 2007, Jaffe left SCEA to found Eat Sleep Play. The studio signed a multi-year deal with Sony to create games exclusively for PlayStation platforms. He left Eat Sleep Play in February 2012 due to creative differences.[7][8]
In 2014, Jaffe announced his first project on his new studio The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency called Drawn to Death as a PlayStation 4 exclusive.[9] The game received mixed reviews, and due to the cancellation of an unannounced title, his newfound company shut down a year later. Jaffe expressed disdain for the mixed critical reception and insisted the reception from players who played the game was more positive.[10][5]
Jaffe has served as a creative consultant for Polish developer Movie Games.[11]
As of 2025, Jaffe is one of the hosts on the online podcast known as "LolcowTechTalk".
Works
edit| Year | Game | Console(s) | Credited as |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Cliffhanger | NES, Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega CD/Sega CD | Tester |
| 1993 | Skyblazer | Super NES | Tester |
| 1994 | Mickey Mania | Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega CD/Sega CD | Game designer [12] |
| 1995 | Twisted Metal | PC/PlayStation | Game designer [13] |
| 1996 | Twisted Metal 2 | PC/PlayStation | Game director, producer, and designer [13] |
| 2001 | Twisted Metal: Black | PS2 | Game director, lead designer [13] |
| 2001 | Kinetica | PS2 | Game designer |
| 2005 | God of War | PS2 | Game director, lead designer [13] |
| 2005 | Twisted Metal: Head On | PSP | Game director, designer |
| 2007 | God of War II | PS2 | Creative director [13] |
| 2007 | Calling All Cars! | PS3 | Game director |
| 2008 | Twisted Metal Head On: Extra Twisted Edition | PS2 | Game director, designer [14] |
| 2012 | Twisted Metal | PS3 | Game director [13] |
| 2017 | Drawn to Death | PS4 | Game director [13][14] |
References
edit- ^ "Twisted Metal Studio Hit With Massive Layoffs". CINEMABLEND. January 27, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
- ^ "Spider-Man PS4 and Why We're in a Golden Age of Licensed Games - GameRevolution". GameRevolution. May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
- ^ "IGN - 71. David Jaffe". IGN. Archived from the original on April 20, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
- ^ "David Jaffe Opens Up," GamePro 235 (April 2008): 23.
- ^ a b Staff Writer (December 4, 2022). "Who Is David Jaffe, Creator of God of War?". Sportsmanor. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ IGN PlayStation Team (March 16, 2007). "The Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time". IGN.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2007.
- ^ Sliwinski, Alexander. "David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update]". Joystiq. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ Jaffe, David (June 8, 2012). "Why I Left Eat Sleep Play". DavidJaffe.biz. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (December 6, 2014). "David Jaffe reveals arena shooter Drawn to Death". Eurogamer. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
- ^ "David Jaffe's The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency closes down". GamesIndustry.biz. February 28, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
- ^ Adams, Robert N. (May 4, 2021). "God of War Creator David Jaffe Joining Movie Games". TechRaptor. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ Jaffe's Blog with Project Listing Archived June 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g "David Jaffe". IMDb. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ a b "David Jaffe". MobyGames. Retrieved July 30, 2023.