God of War Gameplay Engineer Behind Leviathan Axe Has Died

[Animous]

The games industry has lost another veteran, one that worked particularly closely with Radical Entertainment and Sony Santa Monica. George Mawle, one of the gameplay engineers behind weapons in God of War such as the Blades of Chaos and Leviathan Axe, has died.

Mawle died on September 2, and the cause of death remains unknown. Mawle had a storied career in the industry that dates back over twenty years, including seven years at Sony Santa Monica where he worked on God of War. Mawle departed Sony Santa Monica back in February to work on an unannounced project. His former colleagues were shocked to hear of his passing so soon afterward.

During his time at Sony Santa Monica, George Mawle worked on Kratos' navigation, RPG systems, weaponry, tons of combat behaviors, improvements to the scripting system, and much more. Being an industry veteran, Mawle was also able to get rid of a lot of persistent bugs in God of War. The gameplay engineer previously worked for Radical Entertainment in the past on Prototype in order to perfect the game's combat systems.

Mawle's colleagues at Sony Santa Monica broke the tragic news about Mawle's passing 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. The two also reflected on the gameplay engineers' lengthy career and some of the things he was able to accomplish in game development.

Combat design lead Mihir Sheth took to his Twitter to ask his followers to recognise that key aspects of God of War and Leviathan Axe were possible due to George Mawle's work. According to Sheth, the throwing and recalling of the Leviathan Axe and the twirling of the Blades of Chaos in God of War are both possible due to Mawle's engineering. Sheth sat near Mawle for nearly every day across over five of the seven years that Mawle was at Sony Santa Monica.

Mihir Sheth also gave fans a glimpse into Sony Santa Monica, as George Mawle's nickname with some members of the studio was "Furious George." Mawle acquired this nickname because he couldn't be stopped once he was set on an idea. Mawle wanted to challenge what everyone believed in various aspects of his life from his education to carpentry projects.

Cory Barlog hailed George Mawle as both a brother and one of the fathers of the Leviathan feel. Mawle was "an amazingly funny, smart and warm human being" according to Barlog. The Sony Santa Monica creative director also told God of War fans how crucial Mawle's work on the Leviathan axe and its recall system was.

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