Update 8/19: Sony has confirmed that the account in question is inauthentic and is not associated with Santa Monica Studio or Cory Barlog.
Santa Monica Studio creative director, Cory Barlog, recently revealed that the studio known for God of War is working on a new “technically ambitious” intellectual property. Santa Monica Studio is most well-known for the God of War franchise, so it’s both surprising and exciting to see it moving towards a new IP.
Formed in 1999, Santa Monica Studio is well-known for its work on the popular God of War series. Despite offering external support for the development of multiple games, Santa Monica Studio has been the primary developer of all mainline God of War games, with the most recent release being God of War Ragnarok in 2022, followed by its subsequent DLC. The latest entry in the franchise sold over 15 million units, becoming a huge hit.
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God of War Dev Reveals Sony's Santa Monica Studio is Working on New 'Technically Ambitious' IP
Now, the game director of God of War 2 and 2018’s God of War, Cory Barlog, has shared some new details about one project he’s been working on at Santa Monica Studios in a now-deleted social media post (spotted by Game Informer). According to Barlog, the project is “technically ambitious” and “something that’s not easy to achieve.” He also revealed that the team has been working on this new IP for years, and teased that it could be officially revealed later this year “if all goes well.” Unfortunately, the developer did not specify whether this information was regarding the next project to be released by Santa Monica Studio or if the company had other games to be released first.
This is not the first mention of a mysterious project that seems to be led by Barlog. Earlier this year, reports from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier indicated Santa Monica Studio’s unannounced game was still going strong. Some reports have indicated that the title may be a sci-fi RPG, while others claimed it was something else entirely, so nothing has been confirmed yet, and gamers should await the official announcement to learn more.
The last project from Santa Monica Studios was God of War Ragnarok’s Valhalla DLC, which was released in December 2023. This DLC featured a roguelike framework for the popular action game, challenging gamers with difficult combat and random encounters.
It’s already known that Sony canceled a live service God of War title. However, the project was not being developed by Santa Monica Studios, but by Bluepoint Games instead. So, it remains to be seen how the God of War franchise will continue. Considering how popular God of War is, it’s unlikely that Sony will leave it dormant for long.
God of War Ragnarok
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 92 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- November 9, 2022
- ESRB
- M For Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Santa Monica Studio
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
