The God Of War remake has raised questions around other projects in development at Santa Monica Studio, with insiders suggesting their next new title could be revealed this year.
Sony’s biggest announcement from its latest State Of Play was the God Of War Trilogy Remake, but its existence has left some lingering questions around what developer Santa Monica Studio is actively working on.
For starters, it’s not clear if the God Of War studio is the primary developer on the remake. The trailer suggests they are, with no other studio logo shown in the video, but it’s possible that it’s in partnership with another team, as is the case with God Of War: Sons Of Sparta.
Either way, a PlayStation Blog post penned by Santa Monica Studio stated the remake is ‘very early in development’. Considering it’s been nearly four years since their last title, 2022’s God Of War Ragnarök, there’s an assumption that something else must have been cooking during the intervening period.
There have been rumbles over the years around a new title by Cory Barlog, who directed 2018’s God Of War and co-directed its sequel. While it hasn’t been officially announced, prior leaks did suggest it is a new IP.
However, this has been disputed, with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier claiming ‘it’s not a new IP but it might feel like one’ in July last year. He also branded previous claims that it was a sci-fi game as ‘nonsense’. All of which only confuses the matter further.
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Following the announcement of the God Of War Trilogy Remake, the existence of this rumoured title from Barlog has been brought up once again. There were already claims it could be announced later this year, and now insider Shinobi602 has said he expects a reveal over the summer.
‘Like I said given the quarter they’re targeting, I do expect that,’ they wrote on ResetEra when asked if they think Barlog’s game will be announced this year. ‘Probably May State Of Play or the summer Keighleys [Summer Game Fest]. As of now I don’t know yet.
‘If not by then, then they’ve either pushed the release out further or doing a shorter reveal to release.’
Shinobi602 suggests Barlog’s game will launch before 2028 ‘barring any delays’, which implies it will arrive before the God Of War Trilogy Remake. As they state though, these plans could change, so take it with a pinch of salt for now.
The big question is whether Barlog’s game, if it does arrive before the remake, is related to God Of War in some way. There have been rumours for years around a switch to Egyptian mythology, which might be why there’s some confusion over whether it’s a new IP or not (especially if it isn’t led by Kratos).
There’s also the Amazon TV show adaptation which is expected to come out in 2027, so you’d think some God Of War project would be planned to coincide. As we’ve seen with Fallout though, game companies have a knack for a lack of synergy in these cases – although it’s particularly extreme in this case, as even if a new game does come out at the same time it won’t have the same Norse setting as the show.
So, to summarise, Santa Monica Studio might be close to wrapping up development on Barlog’s game if these rumours are to be believed, but it’s not yet confirmed if they’re personally making the God Of War Trilogy Remake or not.
If Barlog’s title isn’t God Of War related though, the next mainline title in the series might be a long way off.
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