New Santa Monica Studio IP Might Get Revealed Next Week

In 2019, it was widely rumored that Santa Monica had started working on an original IP to create a sci-fi game. Last week, we tried to dig into all the details based on some leaked images of a character that will be played by Deborah Wilson that appeared on Reddit. Nothing substantial was found about the game.

This rumor actually began with Cory Barlog, Director of God of War (2018), in 2019. He sent out a tweet in Morse code. The tweet basically said "55h" with the word "Do" below it, which means "SIE." SIE, of course, stands for Sony Interactive Entertainment, which is what PlayStation is all about.

We obviously thought that he might be working on a brand-new project, as he didn't direct God of War: Ragnarök. The only reason is that he was working on another project at the time. Fans still hoped for a new game, even though this tweet wasn't very clear.

Cory replied to a Twitter question about making games in 2022 with the phrase, "This thing has been in development for years now." In the same year, he told The LA Times that Santa Monica is "spread pretty thin," referring to a secret project and stressing that a new one is on the way. Then Eric Williams, who directed God of War: Ragnarök, spoke up, making it sound like most of the work was going into that game.

When Cory talked about this, he was very quiet, but in 2024, he sent out a lot of tweets and hints. Cory chose to tweet some more things, giving fans a hint that the game would be coming out soon. Later, Alana Pierce, the writer of God of War, said she was not working on any God of War games. Instead, she was working on an untitled game; further official sources confirmed this statement.

This next fact comes from Santa Monica's past, but I think it shows that they are working on a brand-new IP. Some images surfaced on Imgur, where fans saved pictures uploaded by developers. The images are about aliens and sci-fi elements. The concept art showed galaxies hinting at a possible sci-fi space game.

Since Cory tweeted his first cryptic tweet back in 2019, I am guessing the work started in 2019, and because in 2022, Cory responded to a tweet saying, "This thing has already been in development for a few years now". Hence, I think these were the very early stages, from 2019 to 2022. I believe the game was given the all-clear when he sent that Morse code tweet. They were planning the story, what they wanted to do, what tech to use, and what assets to make at that very moment.

For his part, Cory Barlog went back to Santa Monica in 2024 to check on the project. He tweeted that it was "mind-blowing stuff" and that he loved working with the developers there, perhaps hinting at a new game in the works again. The PlayStation February 2025 State of Play is coming up next week, where they might reveal the game that has been kept in the dark and is completely silent.