Game development has been a hot topic of discussion in the past few years as numerous occurrences of poor working conditions, rounds of layoffs, and major title delays have come to light. Considering these dramatic announcements, many have been interested in the industry’s practices, especially given the recent delays for Watch Dogs Legion, The Last of Us: Part II, and Cyberpunk 2077. A developer viewed favorably for his output and leadership skills, God of War director Cory Barlog has now spoken about the procedure of game development and commented on perceived “ugly games.”

EVERY game runs badly until you optimize for the hardware in the final push before gold.❤️ https://t.co/5uTQ14EfE5

— Cory Barlog ? (@corybarlog) January 22, 2020

God of War director Cory Barlog recently released a string of tweets (H/T Prima Games) regarding game development on his official Twitter account. The thread began with Barlog sharing and responding to an article claiming the recent Cyberpunk 2077 delay was due to it not performing well for consoles in its current state. This led Barlog to claim that “EVERY game runs badly until you optimize for the hardware in the final push before gold.”

I can’t say I speak for the industry, so fellow devs chime in to disagree or correct if you feel your experience is different, but I feel this to be true for *most* games.

GAMES ARE VERY UGLY, FOR A LONG TIME, UNTIL THEY ARE NOT. Traditionally, that is right near the end. — Cory Barlog ? (@corybarlog) January 22, 2020

Barlog expanded on these comments by providing perspective on game development across its entire operation. “Games are very ugly, for a long time, until they are not,” he stated. “Traditionally, that is right near the end.” He further suggested the end results of development are often unpredictable and carry a high potential for bugs. This complexity was said to last all the way through a project’s life span, with studios “going on passion and belief that the vision of this buggy + duct-taped together ‘thing’ is going to come together in the end.” Barlog added, “Sometimes we (mostly) succeed. Sometimes we don’t. But it is NEVER because we did not try.”

While many are theorizing why Cyberpunk 2077 got delayed, it is good to see non-CD Projekt RED developers providing some insight into the ever-changing and multi-faceted nature of game development. Hopefully, players find these details as acceptable reasons for the long wait. If Kratos can wait for his axe to return to him, so too can players wait for Cyberpunk 2077.

What do you guys think about these comments from God of War director Cory Barlog? Let us know in the comments below! Be sure to stay tuned for the latest gaming news, such as the Uncharted movie being once again delayed by Sony, here on Don’t Feed the Gamers! Follow us on Twitter to see our updates the minute they go live!