A New God of War Game Announcement at the 20th Anniversary?

The God of War franchise is currently steering us in two major directions—a return to Ancient Greece with a younger Kratos or setting up the next game in Ancient Egypt—aside from the obvious possibility of God of War Greek Saga Remaster. While details on the series' direction beyond the remaster may be revealed soon, Santa Monica Studio is reportedly working on both a new intellectual property and a God of War sequel.

Santa Monica Studio has spent the better part of a year and a half actively seeking talent to voice actors in their upcoming video games. Individuals with experience with God of War 4 and God of War: Ragnarök are being considered for certain roles. It seems that an additional God of War game could be in the works after Ragnarök.

Although it is unclear what additional projects these openings may refer to, Santa Monica Studio is known to be juggling several projects at the moment. In 2022, not long after God of War Ragnarök was published, creative director Cory Barlog spoke to the LA Times about reports that the studio had been dividing its employees into many teams working on separate projects for some time.

No details regarding the nature of these projects are available at this time, although when questioned about them during an interview that was shown as part of a PlayStation showcase in September 2021, Cory Barlog gave the following statement. "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? You'd like me to just spill the beans and tell you everything that's going on right now. We're actually doing a bunch of stuff, and it's really exciting, but I don't really have anything I can talk about right now specifically, mostly because we're really focused on God of War Ragnarök".

The studio's other projects are clearly not limited to God of War, as stated by Barlog, and it's clear from the majority of the new job postings that these projects will need support. However, these projects are probably farther along in the production process than when this interview was conducted, which was quite some time ago. Santa Monica Studio's future games might be revealed very soon, given that Sony said in 2024 that they would hold off on publishing any significant first-party titles until the second half of 2025.

Given that Santa Monica is actively developing a new IP and maintaining development on the God of War series, the fact that recent job postings have prioritized details on the first two God of War games raises a lot of questions. These openings may be for a new God of War game, but it wouldn't be completely out of the question if they were for their other intellectual property.

It's noteworthy to consider that in October 2024, Santa Monica Studio announced a job listing for a Senior Environmental Artist on their website. The listing gave some insight into the role's responsibilities, specifically mentioning Sony's focus on next-gen narrative-driven single-player games. This is suitable with God of War, but it might also be used for their next title. But what makes the idea of the next generation so intriguing is that it seems like this may be the PS6's fate.

Leaked documents indicate that PlayStation 6 will be released in 2028, making an immediate release unlikely given the availability of the PS5 Pro and Sony's statements about being in the second part of the PS5 generation. The next God of War game, if confirmed, will not be published for at least three to four years, suggesting Santa Monica Studio is planning ahead for at least one of their projects.

Maybe it's a God of War game, or it may be their new, undisclosed intellectual property. But God of War is still very much a part of their development pipeline, regardless of whether this is for an unknown IP or not. While the Norse saga may have concluded, Kratos and Atreus will certainly be back in the future. As we approach the 20th anniversary of God of War, we can only hope that more information about the franchise's plans will be revealed in the weeks and months ahead.