David Jaffe and the team at Eat Sleep Play is hard at work on the reboot of the long-absent Twisted Metal franchise. This revered designer has many outlets where he can vent his frustrations with the industry, chief among them being Twitter. He recently ranted about the perils of the industry when it comes to in-office politics, and it lit up around the Internet, being interpreted as Jaffe having a tough time at the office. But it looks like many people jumped the gun a bit early.
The original rant, spanning over four tweets, looks like this:
Managed to avoid the politics of work life for almost 20 years. I just always focused on the work. Not sure if it’s because games are getting so expensive or the economy is so bad that people are more scared- and thus most desperate than ever- to keep their jobs but MAN I’ve never actually noticed the politics and backstabbing and bullshit of certain types before until the last 3 months. I will say this: I don’t fucking like it and I choose not to play. Live or die by the work only. The rest is just scared people in the wrong line of work.
While Jaffe never mentions that he is talking specifically about his situation at work, a few people saw this as a reflection of issues he was encountering while working on Twisted Metal. Of course, being the outspoken developer that he is, Jaffe then called those people out:
Oh for Heaven’s sake! My bitching about politics have NOTHING to with Twisted Metal or the development of that game. Come on press. Stop…Making stuff up just cause u are bored and/or have no real ability to go chase a real story. Where do u pee-ple get this crap?!?
The lesson here? Game journalists the world over need to learn one word very well: followup. People use Twitter to rant about everything and anything they want to, and it isn’t necessarily a reflection of something they have experienced firsthand. Diving deeper can often save an error or misinterpretation. But more importantly, fans of Twisted Metal eagerly awaiting its glorious return can relax; development appears to be going just fine, and there are no in-office politics screwing with Jaffe’s grandiose vision.
