How the Mighty Have Fallen...
David Jaffe, the creator of God of War, at one time way back in the day... had quite the storied career in gaming, but his recent public tirade, specifically against YouTuber Vara Dark (among a slew of other strange takes) has left everyone questioning his sanity.
Following Vara’s critique of his comments blaming “YouTube grifters” for the failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Jaffe decided to unleash a series of unhinged remarks that seem more like a meltdown than any kind of measured response.
Vara’s roast was direct, but fair. She called Jaffe “salty” for blaming gamers and YouTubers for failures in the industry while refusing to accept the mediocrity of The Veilguard. However, her recounting Jaffe’s past comments and her observations about his hypocrisy that seemed to... strike a nerve.
Jaffe responded with a tirade that was as condescending as it was, frankly... bizarre. Among his many hot and 'spicey' takes, he accused Vara of being a “mental lightweight” and repeatedly demeaned her intellect, appearance, and credibility. He straight up went to attacking her looks to try and defeat her. A bold strategy, you got there, Cotton - most would agree.
Jaffe's Rants and Unhinged Quotes
On Vara’s Criticism of His Book Reference
Jaffe lashed out when Vara dismissed his use of a book about Vince McMahon and Donald Trump to support his theories, saying:
“Just read a little bit. You’ve got to do the research, lady. I didn’t just pull out some rando book on the WWE. I pulled out a book about the f***ing thing I was speaking about.”
While attempting to defend his point, Jaffe segued into unrelated topics, saying:
“Do I think Trump’s assassination was staged? I don’t know. But if you think that’s beyond the pale, you guys are the ones talking about Barack Obama not being a citizen and kids going to school and coming home a different sex.”
On Vara’s Definition of a Grifter
Jaffe sarcastically dismissed Vara’s claim that he defined grifters as people sitting online talking about games:
“Is that my definition of a grifter? Where are you getting that, Vara Dark, from? Again, Vara, I’m going to give you a little bit of an education, here.”
Despite his denial, Jaffe spent a significant portion of his video ranting about YouTubers and their influence on gaming culture.
Personal Attacks on Vara’s Appearance and Abilities
Jaffe’s criticism quickly turned personal, as he reduced Vara’s success to her looks and gender:
“You are in that chair, Vara, because of your hair, and your face, and your gender. And that’s fine by the way. There’s no problem with that. But let’s be clear, you’re a mental lightweight.”
The irony of his statement was not lost on observers, as Jaffe contradicted himself within seconds, projecting his insecurities while failing to refute Vara’s points.
A Bizarre NASA Analogy
To emphasize Vara’s supposed incompetence, Jaffe compared himself to a NASA engineer—then completely undermined his point:
“If I was like in NASA and they were like, ‘Oh st! The space station’s going to explode. Everybody, we can only solve this by looking at the blueprints and the math,’ I don’t f*ing know. Within five minutes they’d be like, ‘Jaffe, go get the coffee.’”
Instead of bolstering his argument, this analogy highlighted his self-awareness—or lack thereof—about his own limitations.
A Truly Outrageous Insult
In perhaps the most outlandish moment, Jaffe compared Vara’s intellect to a spider:
“You have about as much mental capacity as a spider that I killed in my shower this morning. It’s the g*ddamn truth, Vara.”
This goes to some seriously extreme levels of discourse from Jaffe—personal attacks over professional or substantive arguments.
The Fallout
David Jaffe’s meltdown has done absolutely nothing to win him any sympathy whatsoever from the community. If anything, it's brought the spotlight on him for all the wrong reasons. Sure he'll get some short-lived attention, but long-term, he will see his channel fade into obscurity as these kinds of things always follow the same path. His comments are a complete overreaction to any kind of legitimate criticism. Vara Dark’s 'roasting' vid may have been blunt and straight forward, but it focused on overall industry concerns, highlighting Jaffe’s refusal to acknowledge failures in gaming that goes well beyond “YouTube grifters” - not that anyone is surprised at this point. Hell, if anything, Jaffe is great comic relief from reality... But the joke, is all on him.
Instead of addressing any of these actual points, Jaffe resorted to name-calling, condescension, and self-contradiction. For a creator once celebrated for his contributions to gaming, his public outburst has left his once storied reputation in tatters.
God of War and Twisted Metal, be damned. This man is a shell of who he once was. You hate to see it...
How the mighty have fallen, indeed.
~Smash
To me, this guy is nothing more than a whiney little bitch that Vara Dark would be able to easily beat because she has more smarts & Class than this Ugly old fart
Cyael’s comment, “He’d go as trans as his kid if it got him views…,” was absolutely savage (and hilarious).
For someone from the liberal left camp, this guy sure is sexist. Claiming that Vara’s success is solely reliant upon her attractiveness and femininity is an extremely misogynistic viewpoint.
Wokeness destroys the body, the MIND and the SOUL of people. He's been living in an echo chamber for too long due to every single social media company (bar one) heavily censoring right-wing and normal people's voices and thinks he's protected so long as he supports the 'correct' side. Some pushback may actually get him to reconsider what he stands and how he treats people but usually wokists are immune to accountability and self-reflection. Sad he also failed as a father.
Letting his kid be trans shows exactly what kind of person he is and not to be taken seriously