Santa Monica Studio's sequel to 2018's God of War won't be releasing in 2021. The first-party Sony developers, along with PlayStation Studios head, Hermen Hulst, confirmed this unfortunate news on June 2, Wednesday.

The Next God of War Game Will Release in 2022

Many had expected the next God of War game to release in 2021. This comes after the game was first teased last year by Sony as part of one of its PS5 showcases. Unfortunately, it seems like the developers had reason to believe that the game needed more time in development to live up to the enormous expectations set upon it.

2018's God of War is widely considered one of the best games of all time. Santa Monica Studio's risky decision to switch the perspective and give the once hot-headed Kratos a more mellowed personality, along with the shift from killing Greek gods to a setting inspired by Norse mythology, paid off handsomely. But, because the game ended with such a massive cliffhanger, players have been itching for a sequel as soon as the game launched.

Unfortunately, as confirmed in a recent post on the PlayStation Blog, fans will need to wait for at least one more year to see the God of War sequel.

When exactly in 2022 God of War 2 will release is not yet known at the moment. Sony nor Santa Monica Studio has released a specific release date or release window. Not to mention, the actual name of the next God of War game is currently unknown. Many believe that it would be referred to as God of War: Ragnarok. However, this information has since been refuted.

Speaking of refuted information, there've also been speculations that 2018's God of War will be coming to the PC as PlayStation's next PC port. A recent leak suggests that this isn't true. Or, rather, it won't be coming soon, with Uncharted 4 expected to release on the PC following the success of Days Gone.

If it's any consolation though, we can expect God of War to also come to the PS4. This much was confirmed in a recent interview by Hulst.

You can't exactly blame Sony nor Santa Monica Studio for wanting to take its time. Most developers are under scrutiny right now. The launch and subsequent failure of Cyberpunk 2077 put the video game industry's unhealthiest practices front and center. Thus, most studios will want to avoid such negative publicity associated with rushing a game just to adhere to deadlines.

Of course, it makes far more sense for Sony to have delayed the God of War sequel because it wants to stagger its first-party titles.

It's not uncommon for Sony to release multiple first-party titles in a single year. However, Sony definitely prefers to keep the numbers to a minimum, especially AAA and big-budget games so that they don't end up competing with each other. Because Horizon Forbidden West is already slated for a 2021 release, the decision to delay God of War 2 to 2022 is a savvy business move on Sony's part.