Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 10, 2026

David Jaffe

David Scott Jaffe is an American video game designer best known for directing the Twisted Metal and God of War series. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.

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David Jaffe
Jaffe in 2005
Born (1971-04-13) April 13, 1971
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Known forTwisted Metal series
God of War series
Websitecriminalcrackdown.blogspot.com

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.12 In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.3

Biography

Jaffe 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 both ranked in 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 then founded 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.78

In 2014, Jaffe announced his first project from 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 of the game was more positive.105

Jaffe has served as a creative consultant for Polish developer Movie Games.11

Works

Games
Year Game Console(s) Credited as
1993 Cliffhanger NES, Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear Tester
1993 Skyblazer Super NES Tester
1994 Mickey Mania Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega CD/Sega CD Game designer12
1995 Twisted Metal PC/PlayStation Game designer13
1996 Twisted Metal 2 PC/PlayStation Game director, producer, and designer13
2001 Twisted Metal: Black PS2 Game director, lead designer13
2001 Kinetica PS2 Game designer
2005 God of War PS2 Game director, lead designer13
2005 Twisted Metal: Head-On PSP Game director, designer
2007 God of War II PS2 Creative director13
2007 Calling All Cars! PS3 Game director
2008 Twisted Metal Head On: Extra Twisted Edition PS2 Game director, designer14
2012 Twisted Metal PS3 Game director13
2017 Drawn to Death PS4 Game director1314
Television
Year Title Roles Notes
2007 Code Monkeys Himself (voice) Episode: "Just One Of The Gamers"
References

References

  1. "Twisted Metal Studio Hit With Massive Layoffs". CINEMABLEND. January 27, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  2. "Spider-Man PS4 and Why We're in a Golden Age of Licensed Games - GameRevolution". GameRevolution. May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  3. "IGN - 71. David Jaffe". IGN. Archived from the original on April 20, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  4. "David Jaffe Opens Up," GamePro 235 (April 2008): 23.
  5. Staff Writer (December 4, 2022). "Who Is David Jaffe, Creator of God of War?". Sportsmanor. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  6. 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.
  7. Sliwinski, Alexander. "David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update]". Joystiq. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  8. Jaffe, David (June 8, 2012). "Why I Left Eat Sleep Play". DavidJaffe.biz. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  9. Matulef, Jeffrey (December 6, 2014). "David Jaffe reveals arena shooter Drawn to Death". Eurogamer. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  10. "David Jaffe's The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency closes down". GamesIndustry.biz. February 28, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  11. Adams, Robert N. (May 4, 2021). "God of War Creator David Jaffe Joining Movie Games". TechRaptor. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  12. Jaffe's Blog with Project Listing Archived June 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  13. "David Jaffe". IMDb. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  14. "David Jaffe". MobyGames. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
External links