God of War

God of War is a 2018 action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released worldwide for the PlayStation 4 in April 2018, with a Windows port released in January 2022. It is the eighth game in the God of War series and the sequel to 2010's God of War III. While previous games were based on Greek mythology, God of War transitioned to Norse mythology, and takes places in mythical ancient Scandinavia in the realm of Midgard. Players control Kratos, who embarks on a journey with his son, Atreus, to scatter the ashes of Atreus's mother from the highest peak of the nine realms. Kratos keeps his past a secret from Atreus, who is unaware he is a demigod. Along their journey, they come into conflict with monsters and gods of the Norse world. Described by creative director Cory Barlog as a reimagining of the franchise, a major gameplay change is that Kratos now uses a magical battle axe, the Leviathan Axe, instead of his signature double-chained blades. The game also uses an over-the-shoulder free camera, with the game in one shot, as opposed to the fixed cinematic camera of the previous entries. It also includes role-playing game elements, and Kratos's son Atreus provides assistance in combat. The majority of the original game's development team worked on God of War and designed it to be accessible and grounded. A short text-based game, A Call from the Wilds, was released in February 2018 through Facebook Messenger and follows Atreus on his first adventure. A smartphone app, Mímir's Vision, was released three days before the release, providing additional information about the Norse setting. God of War received acclaim for its story, world design, art direction, music, graphics, combat system, and characters, in particular the dynamic between Kratos and Atreus. Many reviewers felt it had successfully revitalized the series without losing its core identity. It was named Game of the Year by numerous media outlets and award shows, and has been cited as among the greatest video games. It sold more than five million copies within a month of release and had sold 23 million by November 2022, making it one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games and the best-selling game in the series. A novelization was released in August 2018, followed by a prequel comic series published from November 2018 to June 2021, while a live-action television series is in development for Amazon Prime Video. A sequel, God of War Ragnarök, was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2022, and for Windows in 2024.