While God of War Ragnarök came out in 2022, the series as a whole has hardly been in Odinsleep. From remasters to new games and cancelled ones, much has stirred in Kratos’ mythological realm. After spotting a now-deleted LinkedIn page regarding Sony Santa Monica Studio, fans believe a big new God of War game is in the works, albeit one without its titular vengeance-seeker.
The page from a Senior Writer at Sony Interactive Entertainment says they “Helped shape narrative vision and creative direction for a new franchise within the God of War universe” and ended their time at the studio last September. While speculative threads on ResetEra don’t hold much water on their own, reporter and industry fortune-teller Jason Schreier chimed in, posting “I suppose now it’s become obvious what I meant by ‘not a new IP but it might feel like one.’”
It’s been a busy month for the ol’ God of War. During the most recent State of Play, Sony unveiled a remake for the entire original trilogy of games, in which Kratos cleaves the entire Greek pantheon from Hades to Olympus. It was paired with a surprise 2D prequel, Sons of Sparta, which dropped that same day. On the other end, Sony shuttered Bluepoint Games, who recently saw their live-service God of War spin-off cancelled following the dramatic fall of Concord. Somewhere in the middle, the first glimpse at Amazon’s live-action adaptation dropped online, leaving fans to contend with something that resembles a Super Bowl commercial.
Prequels and adaptations address the past and present for God of War, but what does that leave for the future? Schreier’s recent post about a new-but-not-new IP seems to refer to one made last July, in which he scratched out a rumor that Cory Barlog was developing a new sci-fi adventure. Put together, these two posts suggest that new IP and this spin-off are one in the same. This new game might see another dramatic departure, not only from the series’ main protagonist but its genre as well, similar to when God of War descended from a frenzied Devil May Cry hack-em-up to an over the shoulder affair. It would certainly be more consistent for Sony, who seem more eager to tease out their existing characters with spin-offs, cross-media adaptations, live-service games and self-congratulatory cameos than develop something new.
