David Jaffe leaving company he co-founded after Twisted Metal launch

Twisted Metal creator, David Jaffe, is leaving the company that he co-founded in midst of mass layoffs following the completion of development on their latest title.  The company which is getting ready to release the highly anticipated sequel to the long running PlayStation franchise on Valentine’s Day, is also shifting their development focus going forward.

Jaffe commented on the recent layoffs at Eat Sleep Play, and why he’s decided to leave the company he helped create.

“I was not laid off.  I co-own the company.  There were a few layoffs 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 and I miss the day to day of working with the team.”

Though Jaffe has no plans on retiring.  He’s announced that he’ll be forming a new studio in the San Diego area to focus on “cool stuff”.

“I will be leaving to start a new game studio.  Talking to peeps about some big, huge next gen game ideas I’d love for us to make, as well as cool stuff in the browser space and a few things in between.  Once DICE wraps and game launches, it’s company building time!”

The developer who is responsible for some of the most historic franchises in the PlayStation family has made no remarks of whether he’ll continue to work under the PlayStation umbrella or venturing into the world of multi-platform.  Twisted Metal launches for the PlayStation 3 on February 14th in the US, with a March release slated for Europe.