A job posting has God of War fans excited about a new installment, while Cory Barlog waits until the end of the year
Speculation continues about Sony Santa Monica’s next project.
Although it has long been assumed that Sony Santa Monica’s new project would not revolve around God of War, a recent job posting has provided some clues that could point in exactly that direction, fueling rumors that the next God of War could be set in Egypt.
The clue in the job offer
The ad seeks to fill a contract position for a Senior Combat Designer, with responsibility for “to design and implement Enemy and Boss characters” within a project that has not yet been revealed. The description explicitly mentions that candidates must collaborate with key areas such as animation, level design, character art, and visual design, ensuring that creatures and combat are seamlessly integrated into the gaming experience.
The most striking thing, however, is found in the preferred requirements: the vacancy calls for professionals with “fluent with the combat design choices, systems, mechanics, and enemies in God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök (2022).” Such a specific mention of the last two installments of the franchise is seen by the community as a clear indication that the studio plans to continue expanding the Norse universe, or perhaps open a new chapter in the saga.
A large-scale production
The desired profile also requires having participated in the full development cycle of at least two AAA titles, reinforcing the idea that the new project is set to be a large-scale production, something that is taken for granted given that it is a Santa Monica game.
All of this would fit with the latest information revealed by Jason Schreier, a journalist at Bloomberg and one of the industry’s best-connected insiders. In his message on Resetera, he made it clear that Cory Barlog’s project remains the studio’s “next big bet” and that development has been “going well” for the past month or two, when he last spoke with his sources.
But what really caught people’s attention was that Schreier questioned the assumptions that fans have had for years. In one of his responses, he said, “Why does everyone think Barlog’s game is a new IP?” He also ruled out the project being science fiction, which would contradict rumors that the game was a revival of the Darkside project, a new open-world sci-fi IP with some notable elements such as the participation of one of the creators of Battlestar Galactica, which was going to be released on PS4 until it was canceled, throwing away four years of work.
Most likely, at some point during the year, perhaps towards the end, we will have a Showcase that will shed light on this matter. In the meantime, we’ll just have to wait and see.
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