The evolution Kratos and God of War went through in 2018 was really spectacular. This was a franchise that was well-known for button mash style combat and aggressively over-the-top set pieces. It made sense — the player was battling gods, after all, but the tone change in the 2018 release caught a lot of people off guard. 2018’s God of War was in some ways a sequel, but also a reboot of the franchise and it showed that even Kratos was capable of being a deep character. It also made a lot of people excited for the new future of the series.
Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait a little bit longer to experience the future that we have wanted for so long. God of War: Ragnarok, first announced in September 2020, was supposed to have a 2021 release date, but it is going to join the growing list of delays that has defined this year in gaming. Developers Sony Santa Monica announced the delay today on Twitter. Expect the game some time in 2022.
— Santa Monica Studio – God of War Ragnarök (@SonySantaMonica) June 2, 2021
This is unfortunate, but also not entirely unexpected. When Ragnarok was first announced, it was done with nothing more than a title screen. Typically a game that is a year away from release is going to have more to show than that. The optimist would have said that they didn’t show much because they didn’t want to give too much away, while the pessimist would say that they didn’t have enough to show. Considering the tumultuous year-plus in the gaming world, it’s very likely that it just isn’t close to being done yet.
We will just have to wait and see on what happens with God of War. While it’s unfortunate to have to wait longer, at least the game is going to get the work it deserves.