The Salt Lake City Tribune is reporting that Eat Sleep Play co-founder and the man behind such mega hits as God of War and Twisted Metal, David Jaffe will be stepping down and leaving the company following next week’s release of Twisted Metal for the PS3.

The report suggests that Jaffe (UPDATE: jaffe has confirmed he will leave the company) will be staying around for the game’s release, along with a bit of testing and polish, and then will segway into a new position,and a brand new company, which will focus on “big next gen ideas.”

As for Eat Sleep Play, the studio will reportedly transition from console games like Twisted Metal to more casual iPhone and iPad games. “”It’s a platform that is in our pockets almost 24/7. It’s kind of the size and types of games we’re playing,” said other co-founder Scott Campbell to the Salt Lake Trib. “You can certainly reach a lot more people. That’s pretty exciting for us.”

The company has also confirmed that as a result of the move, that they will see a number of layoffs in the near future. Here’s hoping all of those folks land on their feet.

Series co-director and creator David Jaffe has announced that the highly anticipated Twisted Metal revamp won’t be making it’s expected October release date and has been pushed back to sometime in 2012. But don’t worry, Jaffe says it’s a good thing.

” I know. A lot of dedicated, supportive, passionate Twisted Metal fans have been waiting for the return of Calypso’s demented contest for a long time but the truth is: we’re just not ready yet,” Jaffe wrote on the Official PlayStation Blog. “Anyway – it sucks bad when games miss their announced launch dates. We’re gamers too and we know how annoying it is. It’s disappointing and frustrating and it really takes the wind out of your sails if you’re a fan that has been looking forward to playing a title for a long time. Thing is, you gotta trust me when I tell you that – with this extra time for tuning and polish – the game is going to be so much better than it already is. And if you played Twisted Metal and liked it at E3 or Comic-Con, or if you get to play it (and you enjoy it) at one of the August shows, just imagine how much more fun the final game will be with some extra time, polish, and love”

Jaffe closed out the post with a quote from legendary game designer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto; ‘A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time.’

In a not-so-surprising move, God of War 3 will be developed for the Playstation 3. This comes on the heels of GoW 2′s amazing successes earlier in the year on the PS2, which has propelled the action series to the top of the Sony gaming world.

God of War 2 is considered by many to be the best Playstation 2 game ever, and it is reasonable to think that the third installment looks even better on paper — 1080p, sixaxis, digital audio, etc.

But Sony is going forward on God of War 3 without two of the top names behind the success of God of War 2.

Cory Barlog, who directed God of War 2, is out and no longer works for Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Santa Monica division. “We are grateful for his work and creative vision for the critically acclaimed God of War franchise,” SCEA said in a statement.

Also seemingly missing from the equation will be David Jaffe, who was the creative director of the God of War Series. The industry vet also has the Twisted Metal Playstation franchise on his resume, according to his blog. Jaffe went independent. His new studio, Eat Sleep Play, is working on a PSP port of Twisted Metal, Gamespot reported recently.

With the loss of Jaffe and the big-mouthed yet highly talented Barlog, suddenly the success of God of War 3 goes from a sure thing to a potential question mark.