Update (August 18 at 6:07 p.m. CT): Sony has offered a very short follow-up to our outreach simply writing, “This account is not associated with Cory Barlog or Santa Monica Studio.”
Update (August 18 at 12:02 p.m. CT): Following publication of this story, it became apparent that the account in question is more than likely intentionally inauthentic. As a result, we have cause to believe this news is likely inaccurate. We apologize for this mistake. We have reached out to Sony for further confirmation, and will update this story again should we receive comment.
Original story (posted August 18 at 9:27 a.m. CT):
Cory Barlog (pictured above being asked rapid-fire questions about God of War), director of God of War II and 2018’s God of War, shared some vague details about what the team at Sony Santa Monica is currently working on. Sony Santa Monica is the developer, most recently, behind God of War Ragnarök.
“I’d like to share a little bit about our new project,” Barlog wrote on Facebook. “I’m incredibly proud of what the team at Santa Monica Studio has been accomplishing. It’s a technically ambitious project, something that’s not easy to achieve. This is a new IP we’ve been working on for years, and if all goes well, we’re planning to show it to you later this year. I couldn’t be more excited.” Barlog ended the post with two heart emojis.
Barlog’s post doesn’t specify that this is Sony Santa Monica next project or that it is its only project. Since the release of Ragnarök’s free rogue-lite mode DLC, it has been quiet about what’s next.
In terms of God of War, developer Bluepoint Games (primarily known for its remakes of Shadow of the Colossus and Demon’s Souls) was working on a live-service game connected to the God of War franchise. That game was publicly cancelled earlier this year according to a statement Sony shared with Bloomberg.
Whatever this new project may be, we will apparently learn more about it later this year.