Most people associate Cory Barlog with God of War and for a good reason – he’s been a part of the franchise since its inception. However, while he’s synonymous enough with a series like God of War to have a troll named after him, he’s open to new projects. In fact, Barlog has been working on a new game since stepping down as the director for God of War: Ragnarok following the release of God of War.
Unfortunately, all we know is that it’s a sci-fi game where Alanah Pearce is one of the writers. This hasn’t changed at all but at least we got an update.
In a post on X, Barlog dropped what can only be described as a teaser for Santa Monica Studio’s next game, praising the first-party Sony studio for a job well done (“brilliant” is the exact word that he used.”)
seeing some early things coming together on this thing I am working on right now and GOD DAMN the people I get to work with at @SonySantaMonica are just fucking beyond brilliant.
video games are cool.💙 pic.twitter.com/oJAyxgfd9X
— golrab of the frost (@corybarlog) March 22, 2024
Believe it or not, Santa Monica Studio is a small studio. According to its LinkedIn page, it’s “home to over 250 world class developers.” It’s a lot until you consider that it’s only a third of Insomniac Games’ size even after the recent cost cuttings. The studio doesn’t have the size to work on two AAA games simultaneously, which is why work on Barlog’s game likely didn’t start until the release of God of War: Ragnarok in 2022.
In fact, it’s highly likely that there was minimal progress until last year’s free expansion for the reboot sequel.
But now that Santa Monica Studio is relatively free of other obligations, it can shift most of its workforce towards Barlog’s new title.
Unfortunately, by the looks of it, Santa Monica Studio’s next game probably isn’t going to be revealed anytime soon. The good news is that since it survived the recent culling that affect The Last of Us Online and Twisted Metal, it probably isn’t a live-service title.
Keep in mind that Santa Monica Studio still hasn’t released a PS5 exclusive title yet. So, whatever Barlog’s next game will be, Sony will want it to be a showcase for the PlayStation 5 Pro.
The next God of War game has no release date at the moment. Eric Williams, the game’s director, previously hinted that he’d like to work on a Castlevania game. Finally, as per the recent rumors suggest that Sony is remaking the original God of War trilogy for the PlayStation 5. The rumors didn’t specifiy if Santa Monica Studio is involved with the unconfirmed project.
