The 2018 reboot of God of War was more than just a continuation of the saga, as the franchise moved to the Norse mythology for a change and introduced Kratos’ son, Atreus. While the game earned plaudits, winning several coveted accolades, Creative Director at Santa Monica Studios, Cory Barlog, revealed things could have been a lot different for the God of War himself, Kratos.
Barlog had spoken in length about the game a year after it was released in 2018, revealing not everyone on the team was on board with the original plan of making another God of War title.
A New God of War Game Wasn’t Considered a Good Idea
In a 2019 interview, Creative Director Cory Barlog answered a question about creative freedom at work. Barlog mentioned how he always had the backing of two members of his team, Shannon Studstill, who was Senior Director of Product Development at PlayStation at the time, and Yumi Yang, Director of Product Development at Santa Monica Studio.
Even with their backing, Barlog revealed that during the pre-development stage of the 2018 title, God of War, a lot of the members of his team assumed keeping Kratos and making another game wasn’t a good idea.
He revealed Studstill kept the team positive and got them to have faith. However, during the early discussion period, while some considered keeping Kratos was a good idea, most of the others thought “it’s a bad idea to keep Kratos.”
Barlog recollected one of the team members saying, “Is he going to put a backpack on and walk up to Scandinavia?” referring to Barlog’s initial pitch of the idea taking place in Scandinavia for a take on Norse mythology. At this point, Barlog said he was leaning towards agreeing with those who opposed his thoughts, but ended up doing exactly that.
Barlog then revealed that once the entire pre-production was in place, and after a month when it was all finalized, the member of his team who had initially opposed a new God of War game stated that he loved it.
Kratos Returned Eventually and How It Was Accomplished
Not only did the title win the coveted Game of the Year award at the 2018 The Game Awards, but also won the same at the 22nd Annual DICE Awards. This led to Kratos returning for a follow-up in 2022, God of War Ragnarök. The accolades didn’t stop for this either, as the 2022 game also won several accolades post-release.
Knowing Kratos was almost stopped before being given a chance with the new reboot is something hard to imagine now, after seeing how the games were received. Along with Insomniac Games, Santa Monica Studio remains one of the highest revenue-generating studios for Sony.
The 2018 God of War title was eventually ported to PC in 2022, and even the PC port was highly appreciated by fans who played the game on PlayStation, and those who didn’t. The title also received a new DLC recently, which has obtained huge praise.
God of War Ragnarök is rumored to be ported to PC later this year, but being a rumor, it should be taken with a grain of salt.
What do you think of the latest games in the God of War franchise? Let us know in the comments below!
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