It has emerged that Cory Barlog, SIE Santa Monica Studio's creative director and the person responsible for helming the God of War franchise, first revealed that God of War Ragnarok was in the works more than a year ago in a cryptic Twitter thread. The message about the upcoming PlayStation 5 game was first posted in April 2019 but it remained undetected at the time and has only just come to light in response to the title's announcement during the PlayStation Showcase this week.
Fans have long been awaiting news of a sequel to the 2018 reboot God of War, with rumors suggesting that it would have a setting in Norse mythology. The original game received widespread critical acclaim for its intense combat, incredible voice acting, and emotional story so a sequel seemed a certainty. Meanwhile, the ending to God of War hinted at the fact it would feature the likes of Odin, Thor, and Loki.
Although Sony only officially announced God of War Ragnarok at the recent PlayStation Showcase account this week. But it turns out that the game's director, Cory Barlog, actually gave out a cryptic hint about the existence of the title back in April of 2019 on Twitter. The entire Twitter thread, which was composed of some 17 individual posts, detailed much of the development of the reboot. It gave insight into the pre-production, concept work, combat training for the animators and actors, as well as the long press trips he had to take. But Gamespot just noticed the thread also contained a hidden message. The first letter of each Tweet spelled out "Ragnarok is coming" to give fans a sneaky hint at what the future held for the God of War franchise.
The PlayStation Showcase was a livestreamed event that Sony used to reveal the price and launch date of the PlayStation 5 console. However, the company also released a flurry of trailers and teased several new games, such as Hogwarts Legacy and Oddworld: Soulstorm. Gearbox Software also confirmed during the event that the upcoming looter-slasher Godfall will be a launch title for the system, available on both PS5 and PC via the Epic Games Store from November 12.
Game studios often like to throw out hints at what projects might be in development but it seems like this one from Cory Barlog was just a little too cryptic for fans to work out. That's surprising given the sheer size of the God of War fanbase and the number of people who will have seen the original Tweets. It's even stranger no one noticed the mention of God of War Ragnarok considering just how many rumors about the title have been circulating over the last two years. Now that we know about the teasing, it's likely that the next time the creative director might have to be a bit more discrete.
Source: Cory Barlog - Twitter (via Gamespot)