god of War Ragnarok just launched so obviously it’s going to be a while before we get even a hint of information on what developer Santa Monica Studio is going to be working on next, largely because whatever the studio’s next project is, it’s very likely in the very early stages of development right now. And yet, given the immense excitement that still surrounds the two God of the war as a franchise and Sony Santa Monica as a developer, it’s no surprise that already there’s no shortage of people wondering what lies ahead.
And when you look into it a little deeper, you realize there’s quite a lot to say here, largely because, as is the case with most AAA developers in the industry Right now, Santa Monica Studio may very well have several things in the works. After all, the studio’s creative director, Cory Barlog, suggested the same thing a lot, saying the Santa Monica studio was “spread over a lot of different things.” So the question of what its next release might be has different answers depending on several factors (although it’s worth bearing in mind that at this point the vast, vast majority of this will be speculation).
That said, what exactly are the candidates for what Santa Monica Studio will be working on next? Besides the development support he’s provided as an outside team for a wide variety of games over the years, including games like Voyage, Starhawk, The Order: 1886, and more – God of the war was pretty much the only thing he worked on. Of course, Santa Monica Studio’s first title was Kinetica in 2001, but it is the only non-God of the war game the developer has ever made. Since the series debut in 2005 on PS2, everything has been God of the war, all the time.
Well, for the most part. It’s not like the developer hasn’t tried to get new properties off the ground. After God of War: Ascension critical and commercial disappointments, Santa Monica Studio’s next project was supposed to be another sci-fi intellectual property. That IP ended up being canceled, a lot of people at the studio lost their jobs, and Sony Santa Monica basically had to reset again and refocus its efforts exclusively on God of the war- which, at the time, was in its very early stages of conceptualization, according to the title’s official 2018 development documentary.
But now that the Norse God of the war the saga is over and the developer and the franchise are probably in the best and healthiest shape of their lives, both critically and commercially, would it be time for sony santa monica to make another attempt at a new ip ? It’s always exciting to see a fresh, new idea come to life, especially when it’s made by such an accomplished developer as this, so there will be no shortage of people who will give anything to see Santa. Monica Studio try her hand at something completely and utterly new.
Many will say, however, that God of the war itself provides the perfect framework for the developer to keep trying extremely new and different things without also having to take the risks that would normally go with creating a new IP address. After all, Sony Santa Monica has done it once before, with 2018’s reimagining of the series perhaps so different and far removed from what was older. God of the war the games were that it could almost be a new IP in all but name. God of War Ragnarok is the conclusion to the Norse saga of the series, which we’ve known about since before the game even launched, meaning its next main title will likely take us to a new mythological setting (for which there are plenty of clues in the 2018 title as well).
So could it be that during God of War Ragnarok was reaching the final stages of its development, another small team within the studio was starting to prepare things for what the next phase of the series would be? When it was announced last year that Ragnarok would be directed by series veteran Eric Williams rather than God of War (2018) Cory Barlog, it was also confirmed that Barlog was working on something else that was in the early stages of production. Could this be the next God of the war game, taking us, say, to Egypt? After all, it’s no secret that when Barlog was still working out the key details of this The God of War reinvention after Ascent would look like, he seriously considered Egypt as the setting, and he made it clear on several occasions that this is a series that could very well veer from mythology to mythology as it continues.
Other developments around Santa Monica Studio have also been interesting in this context. Job listings posted by the developer have suggested that his next project will also feature a fantasy setting, and while the assumption has largely been that it’s for a new IP, a fantasy setting could easily also be a other God of the war Game. After all, Egyptian mythology (or any other mythology, for that matter) is still fantastical scenery. Want to minimize the gap between The God of War The Norse Saga and all that comes after it may be a factor here, although of course this is all just a dot-connecting exercise at this point, nothing more.
Interestingly enough, there is a way for Santa Monica Studio to release yet another God of the war title set in the realms of Norse mythology. We won’t go into too much detail. How? ‘Or’ Whatgiven the spoilers for the recent God of War Ragnarok that would imply, but there’s a good chance we’ll end up getting a smaller standalone sequel focusing on a different character, something along the lines of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Like anyone who has played Ragnarok will know, the game leaves the door wide open for this kind of future experience. Although it is highly unlikely that the next mainline God of the war The game featuring Kratos won’t take us to a new setting (and maybe feature a new style of play again), we wouldn’t be surprised if we had a smaller Norse saga game before that. . It would also serve as a solid palliative between Ragnarok and the studio’s next big game.
Either way, it’s safe to say that now Santa Monica Studio has joined a very small, exclusive roster of developers who have such a level of trust with the masses that no matter what they’re on will work then, people will flock to it in droves. Whether it’s a new God of the war game in a new setting or a whole new IP that tries something completely different, Santa Monica Studio’s incredible track record and consistent knack for creating masterpieces ensures that fans will be incredibly interested. Yes, it will be some time before we get any more concrete details on what it will be – but for now it seems pretty safe to say that, more likely than not, it will be worth the wait.
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