What we’ve expected for quite some time is now official. The sequel to 2018’s God of War (commonly referred to as God of War Ragnarok by fans, though it doesn’t have an official name yet) has been delayed to an unspecified date in 2022. News of the delay was given by both PlayStation Studios Head Hermen Hulst, as well as the Sony Santa Monica Twitter account. Hulst also confirmed that the God of War sequel is in development for both PS4 and PS5, rather than as a next-gen exclusive.
— Santa Monica Studio Is Hiring (@SonySantaMonica) June 2, 2021
The full statement from the developer reads:
Since the release of the next God of War teaser last year, we’ve been humbled by the amount of love our community has shown us. We’re incredibly grateful to see so many people excited to experience the next chapter of Kratos and Atreus’ journey.
We remain focused on delivering a top-quality game while maintaining the safety and wellbeing of our team, creative partners, and families. With this in mind, we’ve made the decision to shift our release window to 2022.
Thank you for all the continued support, we’ve got some exciting things in the works that we can’t wait to show you.
-Santa Monica Studio
God of War was first briefly teased back at the PS5 reveal in June, with only a broad 2021 release window attached to it. With no further updates since, and frequent talk of the game coming “when it’s done,” it became increasingly obvious that the next chapter of Kratos’ journey wasn’t going to launch this year. It was only a matter of time before it was officially delayed out of the previously teased window. With this delay, we still only have a general 2022 window, so it could be pushed back by as much as a full year.
Hulst attributed the delay to the pandemic, saying that as a big narrative driven game, the pandemic impacted access to performance capture and talent. “And for God of War, the project started a little later. So we’ve made the decision to push that game out to next year, to ensure that Santa Monica Studio can deliver the amazing God of War game that we all want to play,” Hulst said in an interview on the PlayStation Blog. “With these things, something’s gotta give. It cannot be the quality of our titles, and it surely won’t be the health or the wellbeing of our amazing team.”
And after a lot of speculation following its announcement last year, Hulst did finally confirm that the God of War sequel is headed to PS4 as well. “Where it makes sense to develop a title for both PS4 and PS5 — for Horizon Forbidden West, the next God of War, GT7 — we’ll continue looking at that. ” With more than 110 million PS4s out there, Hulst says that it would be bad business to just walk away from that audience. However, he was clear that showcase PS5 titles that are only possible on the next-gen console are still important too. “That being said, it’s also very important to have showpieces for PS5, hence the development of Returnal and Ratchet that are exclusive to PS5.”
Notably, neither Santa Monica Studio nor Hulst are confirming a name for the God of War sequel. Both simply refer to it as the “next God of War.” God of War Ragnarok remains unconfirmed and potentially incorrect at this time.
The next God of War releases sometime in 2022 for PS4 and PS5.
[Source: PS Blog]
