While there have been rumours going around of a smaller-scale new God of War game being developed that would explore more of protagonist Kratos’ backstory, a new report indicates that a new mainline game will feature the character using a new kind of weapon entirely. According to Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson, the next mainline entry in the God of War franchise will have Kratos wielding an ancient Egypt-styled curved sword, like a scimitar.
“There is a the metroidvania game in development, and then there’s also a new mainline God of War game in development,” noted Henderson in a recent episode of the Insider Gaming podcast. “Which has kind of similar themes I think like God of War, but Kratos this time has an Egyptian sword, you know, like a curved Egyptian sword. Like what Prince of Persia has got.”
He also noted that the rumoured State of Play event by Sony will also be the event where the smaller-scaled metroidvania God of War game will be unveiled. Along with this, he also speculated that Marathon might get a new trailer at the event.
Reports of the smaller God of War game first started coming around back in March, with rumours at the time indicating that it was slated for release some time this year. According to Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb, the title will take the story back to Greece, like the original God of War games, but with an all new side-story.
Rumours since then have noted that this title, expected to be a 2.5D metroidvania-styled action adventure game, has had its release window pushed back from 2025 to next year. The title is expected to focus on a younger version of Kratos, and will explore the relationship he had with his father. “Apparently the storyline has more to do with his relationship with his father and all that kind of stuff,” said Henderson back in February.
As for developer Sony Santa Monica, it is reportedly working on its “next big thing”, which is slated to be a reinvention of an older IP. A report from back in July indicates that the scale of this reinvention would be similar to the changes we saw in 2018’s God of War when compared to the classic PS2 and PS3-era games.
“I’ll put it this way: it’s not a new IP but it might feel like one,” wrote Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier in a discussion about the studio’s new project. “Maybe that’s why people are confused. Please don’t ask me more questions about this – if I wind up reporting more information at any point in the future, it’ll be in an article, not on a forum.”
The project, according to Schreier, is also being headed up by Cory Barlog, and development on it has reportedly been going quite well as of a few months ago.
It is worth noting that neither Sony nor Santa Monica have officially announced either of the rumoured God of War projects, and the studio is yet to officially confirm what its next project is going to be.
