Since God of War was rebooted, the games have been open-world single-player action-adventure. While it did seem that Kratos taking on a pantheon of new gods was going to be the direction the franchise went, some reports have confirmed that there were other plans for Kratos—or at least the world of God of War.
Apparently, a multiplayer version of the game was in the works, but Sony, like Concord, has decided to cancel it. But what do we know about the canceled game?
The Cancelled God of War Multiplayer
In a recent report from Bloomberg, it’s been confirmed that Sony has decided to cancel multiple multiplayer projects—one of them being a God of War live service game from Bluepoint Games.
While Concord studio Firewalk eventually closed down following the cancellation of its game, it looks like Bluepoint will still be fine. A Sony spokesperson has confirmed, “Bend and Bluepoint are highly accomplished teams who are valued members of the PlayStation Studios family, and we are working closely with each studio to determine the next projects.”
For context on what kind of game the God of War multiplayer would be like, Bluepoint is a studio specializing in remakes and remasters of classic games for newer-gen platforms. They’ve worked on remasters for Uncharted, Shadow of the Colossus, and Demon’s Souls. Bluepoint was also said to have been working with Santa Monica Studios during their development of God of War Ragnarok, and it was probably during this time that they were also figuring out just what kind of game the God of War multiplayer was going to be.
Previous Multiplayer Versions of God of War
Though the original God of War series was considered to have fizzled out with the PS3 generation, the game did have a well-reviewed multiplayer version for God of War: Ascension. This was the announcement that came out back in 2012:
In the multiplayer version, players create characters with elements of Kratos’ abilities and fight for the favor of four gods: Zeus, Ares, Poseidon, and Hades. They then compete in eight-player super gladiator matches for specific objectives.
It’s unclear if this was Bluepoint’s goal for their God of War game, but Ascension has set a precedent, and any new live-service game would invite some comparisons. Even looking at Ragnarok, the game already presented players with various playstyles, one being Kratos and the other being Atreus.
Other Cancelled Multiplayer Games
God of War multiplayer is just one of several live service titles Sony canceled. The highly anticipated Last of Us Factions sequel never happened, and there were also leaks for a multiverse Spider-Man game called The Great Web. London Studios was also developing a game and a Twisted Metal multiplayer game.
Though multiple studios have been trying to dig at the live-service gold mine, the genre is declining. Sure, Marvel Rivals managed to pull it off, but it’s standing on the graves of games like Concord and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League—massive gambles that ultimately led to huge losses.
No release date has been announced for the next God of War game.