PlayStation’s latest State of Play delivered a major surprise for fans of the God of War franchise with God of War Laufey announcement. The reveal was not simply that another entry in the series is on the way, but that Kratos will not be leading this installment. Instead, his wife Faye steps into the starring role for God of War Laufey. Game director Ariel Lawrence and creative director Cory Barlog of Santa Monica Studio discussed the decision to shift the focus following the showcase.
The answer, according to studio leadership, lies in expanding rather than abandoning the foundation built across the last two entries. In an exclusive interview with IGN, Santa Monica Studio Creative Director Cory Barlog explained that Faye was always the intended bridge into the franchise’s future.
“We’ll always tell stories about Kratos, but I think for us, it was just a chance to talk about somebody who was so pivotal to the beginning and get to know them and push beyond into this new world and give us some place to be surprised and see how things connect,” Barlog said. “So for us, it’s not a departure; it’s more of an expansion.”
Lawrence told IGN in a interview
“Kratos is like a brick wall, and he’s a little stoic, but it’s just that his brutality is different,” said Lawrence. “How do we show somebody who’s his equal as she is? So when we looked, we got to think about all the Santa Monica games. The Greek era had an influence on Faye. The Norse era has an influence on Faye. So going to our more agile combat roots but also retaining our companions, our gritty closer combat. How do those marry together and then make something that’s uniquely Faye-feeling while still being a Santa Monica game?”
The result is a combat system that borrows the agility and aerial mobility of the Greek era while retaining the intimate, companion-driven structure of the Norse games. Faye wields a legendary sword with a momentum-based focus, manipulating souls as the “Golden Hand of the Jötnar” alongside companions Phranque, a cosmic cube voiced by Jack Quaid, and Rue, an enchanted ribbon guardian voiced by Perlina Lau. Deborah Ann Woll returns to portray Faye.
The narrative setup places Faye in the “Everywhen,” a transcendent afterlife realm where gods confront what comes next. She awakens following her funeral to find her plans to protect Kratos and Atreus under threat from ruthless deities drawn from multiple mythologies. The footage showcased confrontations with figures including the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet and the Mongolian and Tibetan deity Begtse, suggesting Santa Monica Studio is finally reaching beyond Greek and Norse pantheons in earnest. The official PlayStation Blog post described the setting as a land of dangerous magic where Faye must fight to preserve the future she orchestrated.
Industry observers have noted that the pivot arrives at a moment when PlayStation continues to double down on single-player narrative exclusives even as competitors shift strategies. While Xbox has faced internal pressure to return to console exclusives, Sony appears content to deepen existing mythology rather than simply making it a sequel.
Reception across social channels has split along predictable lines. Enthusiasts have latched onto the lore implications, noting that Faye was the original wielder of the Leviathan Axe and that her unseen battle with Thor created the Crater region in God of War Ragnarök. Critics, meanwhile, have dismissed the move as unnecessary or politically motivated, though Barlog’s insistence that Kratos will remain part of the studio’s future suggests this is a spin-off in spirit rather than a wholesale reboot. No release date has been announced, though the game is already wishlisted on the PlayStation Store and the extensive footage implies a launch window no earlier than 2027.
For Santa Monica Studio, the calculation appears straightforward. After two Norse entries that redefined Kratos from a one-dimensional instrument of vengeance into a nuanced father figure, the narrative space around him has narrowed. Faye offers a chance to revisit the series’ faster combat roots while exploring a character whose past decisions have already shaped the world players know. Whether audiences follow her into the Everywhen remains the open question.
