David Jaffe, who's still workng on Twisted Metal at developer Eat Sleep Play, has confirmed via Twitter that he's set to leave the developer in order to open a new studio in San Diego. The Salt Lake City-based Eat Sleep Play has also laid off eight employees, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Eat Sleep Play co-founder Scott Campbell also confirmed that the developer is switching its focus to iOS development. “It’s a platform that is in our pockets almost 24/7. It’s kind of the size and types of games we’re playing,” said Campbell. “You can certainly reach a lot more people. That’s pretty exciting for us.”
Campbell, who formed Eat Sleep Play with Jaffe in 2007, commented on Jaffe's departure from the company: “He’s excited to go into the casual space as well. He’s got some projects that he’s excited about. So we’re kind of going down two separate paths.”
Jaffe, however, made sure to clarify via Twitter that he's not about to transition into what most people think of a "casual."
"I have zero plans to make games like Farmville and Angry Birds. I never said what I was doing post TM (and I'm still on TM along with ESP for the next months as we launch it and balance it in real time and make sure it's a perfect game and continue to support it). At the same time I will be opening a game studio here in San Diego because I really miss internal game development."
He added, "I was not laid off. I co-own the company. There were a few lay offs and they were very painful to do for all involved. I'm leaving because - again - games are just getting too big to direct from 300 miles away & I miss the day to day of working direct with a team."
Jaffe even hinted that a return to AAA console games isn't out of the question, noting that there are "big, huge next gen game ideas I'd love for us to make, as well as cool stuff in the browser space."
