With its thick, meaty impact and the satisfying smack that it returns after being thrown, the Leviathan ax is from 2018 God of War is one of the most memorable weapons in all of gaming. This week, members of Sony’s Santa Monico Studio and gamers everywhere mourn the loss of George Mawle, a gameplay engineer whom Game Director Cory Barlog describes as “one of the fathers of the Leviathan feeling.”
The news of Mawle’s death on September 2nd came from God of War Combat design chief Mihir Sheth, who sang the engineer’s praise a long twitter thread over the weekend. During his tenure at the Santa Monica Studio, which began in 2013 and lasted until he left in January of that year, Mawle worked on God of War‘s weapons, navigation, RPG systems, combat behavior and more. Sheth particularly praises Mawle’s work on the Leviathan Ax and the swirling chains of the Blades of Chaos.
Prior to joining Santa Monica Studio, George Mawle worked as a programmer on several notable games. From 2003 to 2010 he worked as technical director at Radical Entertainment and programmed games like Scarface: The world is yours and Prototype 2. His programs also include the 2003s Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis for GameCube and Xbox, one of the worst rated games of all time.
But what George Mawle will be remembered for are his contributions to 2018 God of War, one of Top rated action games any times. Game director and studio boss Cory Barlog took to Twitter yesterday to remember the man and the Leviathan ax he helped forge, saying, “Without (George Mawle’s) curiosity and intellect, there would have been those moments of sheer joy that come remember the ax, never existed. “
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Rest in peace, George Mawle. I would suggest booting up God of War and giving the Leviathan Ax a throw or two in his honor this week or just closing your eyes and reminding yourself how darn good that weapon feels.
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