God of War Gameplay Engineer Behind Leviathan Axe Has Died
Another veteran has been lost in the games industry, one who worked closely with Radical Entertainment as well as Sony Santa Monica. George Mawle was one of the game designers behind the weapons end of WarThese include the Blades of Chaos and Leviathan Axe.
Mawle passed away on September 2, but the cause of his death is still unknown. Mawle’s career in the industry was long and distinguished. He worked seven years for Sony Santa Monica on God of War. Mawle left Sony Santa Monica in February to start work on an unknown project. It was shocking to learn of his death so quickly afterward from his former colleagues.
George Mawle was a part of the development team at Sony Santa Monica. He worked on Kratos’ RPG systems, weaponry and navigation. Mawle, a veteran of the industry, was able to eliminate a lot of persistent bugs from God of War. In order to improve the combat system, Mawle worked previously for Radical Entertainment on Prototype.
Mawle’s Sony Santa Monica colleagues broke the sad news over the weekend. Both Combat design lead Mihir Sheth and creative director Cory Barlog were among the voices expressing their sorrow for the loss of George Mawle. They also shared their thoughts on George Mawle’s long career as a gameplay engineer and the achievements he achieved in the field.
Mihir Sheth, a combat design leader, took to Twitter to remind his followers that George Mawle was responsible for key elements of God of War as well as the Leviathan Axe. Sheth claims that Mawle’s engineering made it possible to throw and retrieve the Leviathan Axe, as well as the twirling of Blades of Chaos in God of War. Sheth spent five years with Mawle at Sony Santa Monica and sat next to him almost every day.
Fans also got a glimpse at Sony Santa Monica through Mihir Sheth, who revealed that George Mawle was nicknamed “Furious George” by some studio members. Because Mawle couldn’t stop once he had an idea, he got this nickname. Mawle was determined to challenge the beliefs of others in all aspects of his life, from his education to his carpentry projects.
Cory Barlog described George Mawle both as a brother, and as one of the fathers in the Leviathan feeling. Barlog said Mawle was an “amazingly funny, intelligent and warm human being”. Mawle was also praised by the Sony Santa Monica creative director for his work on the Leviathan Axe and its recall system.
