God of War director forms new studio with an odd supernatural angle

God of War and Twisted Metal series director David Jaffe has formed a new studio, The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency, and is developing a game with backing from a major publisher, he revealed in a recent interview with Polygon.

Jaffe did not confirm which publisher he was working with, indicating that the project drew interest from Sony, Ubisoft and Microsoft. Publishing plans have not been finalized, however, and Jaffe is open to the idea of crowdfunding via Kickstarter if his studio's current publishing partner pulls out before the project's completion.

"We started pitching the game about a year ago and we got a lot of interest and a lot of pitch meetings," Jaffe said. "The publisher we signed with was great at saying, instead of like, 'Here's this money, ship the game in 18 months or two years' – they are very prototype friendly. That's what I love. Build a team and find your game."

Jaffe additionally names 80-year-old ghost hunter "Bartlet Jones" as a publishing partner and namesake of his studio, The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency. Though Jones appears to be a fictional character cooked up to promote the coming game, Jaffe insists that his studio is partially funded by Jones' supernatural excursions.