Santa Monica Studios may have just launched its biggest game to date with God of War Ragnarök but don’t think for a minute that they’re making video games.
Speaking to the LA Times, Eric Williams, Matt Sophos, Cory Barlog and Meghan Morgan Juinio spoke to the news outlet about the studio’s recent launch.
Surprisingly, game director Eric Williams has attempted to turn Kratos from the brute he began into something more since the series launched in 2005. Williams tells the outlet that 2005’s God of War hugging feature, one that saw the Spartan hug his wife and daughter, acted as a dream-like state for Kratos.
“It was so metaphorical,” Williams says. “He was fighting the demons within himself, but he was giving his life to his family. That always stuck with me. That could be a thesis for a change in the character, which we took and ran with.”
This is where the earliest seeds were planted for the soft reboot God of War saw in 2018. That hugging section was nearly cut by David Jaffe but thankfully he was dissuaded by Barlog to keep it in.
Barlog also mentions that the studio is “spread out on a lot of different things,” but didn’t follow up with exactly what the various teams are working on. In the past, Santa Monica Studio helped publish Journey from Thatgamecompany. It also worked on a cancelled project with a sci-fi focus.
As for Eric Williams, he’s happy working on God of War for as long as he can.“I remember talking to someone from another game company, where they were trying to get me to leave. They said, ‘Do you just want to be known as the “God of War” guy for the rest of your life?’ That was your big pitch to dissuade me? Because yes, I kind of do.”
God of War Ragnarök is currently up for Game of the Year at The Game Awards.
