Future God of War Games May Explore Egyptian or Mayan Mythology
The newest iteration of God of War doesn’t have a release date, but it seems the future of the franchise is already being considered. Following Game Informer’s announcement of the title being spotlighted for this month of extensive coverage, new details began to surface. One particularly fascinating bit of information concerns director Cory Barlog stating that should the series continue past this year’s release, more new locales may receive exploration.
“The Greek games were the Greek era of God of War,” says Barlog (via GameSpot). “Moving on, the next mythological belief system he interacts with became the Norse era of God of War. But we may end up going on to the Egyptian era and the Mayan era and so on and so forth.”
These alterations to the tried and true God of War formula are informed by a desire to see the series return to its glory days, garnering popularity to rival globetrotting franchises like Uncharted or Assassin’s Creed.
Adds Barlog about God of War growing its audience:
“To me, that was important, because I really think we needed to have a much bigger audience. I want this to reach a lot of people; I want this to be on the level of the Uncharteds and the Assassin’s Creeds. We want to grow this franchise big time.”
Inevitably, reaching a broader audience also requires changes elsewhere. Kratos, to keep pace with the fans who grew up with him in the PlayStation 2-era, had to mature. Thus, an evolution was in store for both the character and the series’ core mechanics. This was especially evident following the lukewarm reception to 2013’s God of War: Ascension. According to studio head, Shannon Studstill, at developer Sony Santa Monica, they, too, recognized a need for change:
“What became apparent to me was that we were watching this franchise wane a bit,” Studstill notes. “It was getting old. The storyline with Kratos being the hardcore badass–I think people were starting to say, ‘What’s next?’ I felt like, in order to reinvent, we really needed to turn a lot of things around.”
How would you like to see the franchise expand? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
God of War launches on PlayStation 4 sometime this year.
