During a September 2026 livestream, original God of War creator David Jaffe condemned the harassment aimed at God of War: Laufey director Ariel Lawrence after his own criticism of the game blew up online. In that stream, Jaffe said he and Lawrence “never got along” on the original God of War, said she didn’t have much passion for the series, and called God of War: Laufey a “stupid” project. Those remarks spread quickly across social media and fan forums, and the debate around the new title started tipping into personal attacks. Later in the same livestream, Jaffe called that harassment “low” and said Lawrence is “a real person” who doesn’t deserve abuse.
Lawrence has been part of the God of War franchise since the first game. She later worked at Riot Games, returned to Santa Monica Studio, and now directs God of War: Laufey, a Faye-led entry that has split fans over the shift in focus away from Kratos. Cory Barlog and Santa Monica Studio, for their part, say Kratos is still central and that more Kratos games are planned, while Lawrence says the new angle still fits the series’ human, mythological core.
For people who follow God of War, the story here is that Jaffe isn’t backing away from his dislike of God of War: Laufey. He’s still making that plain. But he is drawing a firm line between criticizing a game and harassing the person behind it, in a gaming culture that keeps singling out individual developers, especially women in high-profile roles. God of War: Laufey is still an upcoming PlayStation release from Santa Monica Studio, so you can’t download it yet.
Author: Emmanuel Bosque
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"es-ES": "Emmanuel Bosque cubre videojuegos en Softonic: lanzamientos, actualizaciones que convierten un juego en otro sin decirlo y los movimientos de una industria que casi nunca avisa. Escribe pensando en quien va a jugar, no en quien va a discutir: qué se puede jugar hoy, en qué plataforma y si de verdad merece la descarga. Forma parte del equipo editorial de Softonic y trabaja a diario con herramientas de IA en la producción de contenido.",
"fr-FR": "Emmanuel Bosque couvre les jeux vidéo chez Softonic : sorties, mises à jour qui transforment discrètement un jeu en un autre, et une industrie qui prévient rarement à l'avance. Il écrit pour celui qui va jouer, pas pour celui qui va débattre : ce qui est jouable aujourd'hui, sur quelle plateforme, et si le téléchargement en vaut la peine. Il fait partie de l'équipe éditoriale de Softonic et travaille au quotidien avec des outils d'IA dans la production de contenu.",
"it-IT": "Emmanuel Bosque si occupa di videogiochi su Softonic: uscite, aggiornamenti che trasformano un gioco in un altro senza dirlo e un'industria che quasi mai avvisa in anticipo. Scrive per chi ha intenzione di giocare, non per chi ha intenzione di discutere: cosa si può giocare oggi, su quale piattaforma e se vale davvero il download. Fa parte del team editoriale di Softonic e lavora ogni giorno con strumenti di IA nella produzione dei contenuti.",
"nl-NL": "Emmanuel Bosque schrijft bij Softonic over videogames: releases, updates die een spel stilletjes in een ander spel veranderen, en een industrie die haar stappen zelden vooraf aankondigt. Hij schrijft voor wie gaat spelen, niet voor wie gaat discussiëren: wat je vandaag kunt spelen, op welk platform en of de download het waard is. Hij maakt deel uit van de redactie van Softonic en werkt dagelijks met AI-tools in de contentproductie.",
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