God of War developer Cory Barlog might've just teased a sequel
A sequel is all but confirmed.
God of War 5 has yet to be confirmed by developer Santa Monica, but a follow-up to the critically acclaimed God of War (2018) is almost certainly in the works, especially after a coy tease from game director Cory Barlog.
On Tuesday, game director Cory Barlog once again teased the upcoming announcement of God of War 5 following months of job listings from Santa Monica Studios strongly hinting that Kratos and Atreus will return on the PlayStation 5. The Santa Monica executive responded to a tweet by gaming publication IGN asking gamers which highly anticipated PlayStation but unconfirmed sequels they’re most excited for. The post mentioned Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Uncharted 5, and God of War 5.
Barlong replied with “ALL PLEASE. ❤️.”
Barlog's juicy response to IGN's tweet on Tuesday.
Barlog’s brief tweet riled up hundreds of God of War fans that tweeted back at him begging for some kind of official announcement for the title. Santa Monica is still keeping quiet about the future of the series, however. But Barlog has long teased that a God of War 5 release is imminent.
He told Kotaku in April 2018 that he had brainstormed enough God of War story ideas for five new games. He later clarified on Twitter he was speaking candidly and that Santa Monica doesn’t actually have plans for five more games, but it seems that Barlog has more than enough material to work with for God of War 5 and might already be developing the next game.
To top that off, Santa Monica also posted a job opening for a “Senior Combat Designer” in June 14 that required applicants to have “knowledge of God of War (2018) and be able to speak in-depth about the combat system, mechanics, and enemies.”
The position is still available as of March 2020, though the line that required knowledge of God of War (2018) appears to have been removed. This suggests that the original position was filled or Santa Monica removed the snippet to avoid stirring up any rumors. (Too late!) So God of War 5 is almost certainly in an early development stage, so gamers will probably have to wait a long time before they get their hands on it.
The most recent God of War release took five years to develop. Barlog also told Kotaku in the aforementioned interview that a majority of that time was dedicated to complicated logistics like a working game engine and other labor-intensive mechanics. For a follow-up, all Santa Monica will need to do is re-optimize the engine for the PS5 and write a new story, which Barlog has hinted is at least partially mapped out. Which is to say that the development process will be much more streamlined for the next game.
Name a more iconic duo. I'll wait.
Games as visually stunning and story-driven as God of War take at least a few years to complete despite that, but at least Santa Monica can carry some of the grunt work it did from the 2018 release over to the eventual sequel. With that in mind, it’s possible that we could see a God of War 5 announcement trailer sometime in the next year or two. Some kind of announcement before the end of 2020 feels very likely.
It doesn’t seem like the game will be a PS5 launch title when it hits shelves in during the 2020 holidays, or else gamers would have heard something by now. But rest assured, Dad and Boy shall return.
