Sony has teamed up with Spin Master to launch a new range of collectible figures based on PlayStation Studios franchises. Dubbed the PlayStation Shapes collection, the figures include Aloy and Varl from Horizon: Forbidden West, Kratos and Atreus from God of War, and Jin Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima.

When will the Shapes Collection figures be released?

The figures from the Shapes Collection will start shipping from the PlayStation Gear store on August 15, 2024, in Europe. The PlayStation Gear store for the United States currently has a placeholder shipping date of January 1, 2025; however, Sony’s Vice President of Network Advertising, Loyalty & Licensed Merchandise, Grace Chen, has said the figures will ship in August. All of the figures are available to pre-order now.

All five of the 6-inch adjustable figures have been created in collaboration with developers who worked on the games. Each has interchangeable accessories and can be posed in many different ways thanks to dozens of points of articulation.

Horizon’s Aloy is the most expensive of the five at $49.99. She has 42 points of articulation and 15 accessories that include interchangeable face plates, hands, a precision bow, spear, arrow, and quiver. Her companion Varl is priced at $29.99. He has 32 points of articulation and an unspecified number of accessories that include his axe and two sets of hands for various grips.

Kratos and Atreus from God of War are also $29.99 each. The former has 31 points of articulation and accessories like the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos. Meanwhile, Atreus has 33 points of articulation and comes with a bow, arrow, and interchangeable hands.

Completing the collection is Ghost of Tsushima’s Jin Sakai. Also priced at $29.99, he has 32 points of articulation. His collection of accessories include his katana, tanto, mempo mask, and an additional sword.

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Sony’s Santa Monica Studio has many job openings right now and some of those hint towards a new God of War game. Many of the job descriptions confirm the positions are for working on an unannounced project and the previous experience required of some candidates suggests the studio is sticking with its familiar IP.

Experience of God of War and God of War Ragnarok preferred

Santa Monica Studio is currently working on multiple projects and seems to be recruiting for a couple of them. As noticed by GeekinOut, the descriptions for the Senior Combat Designer (Hero) and Senior Technical Combat Designer state that “candidates who are fluent with the combat design choices, systems, mechanics, and enemies in God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök (2022) are preferred.”

The specific requirement seems to suggest the studio is working on a new God of War game as one of those projects. While fans will be hoping for a completely new title, rumors appeared at the end of 2023 that the original God of War trilogy would be getting a PS5 remaster. The studio has refused to comment on the speculation and the listings don’t do much to clarify the situation.

In addition to those listings, 75% of the 24 positions available at Santa Monica Studio specifically mention “an exciting new project” or a “new unannounced title.” Details that have been gleaned from previous interviews and other sources suggest this could be a sci-fi RPG that may even involve creative director Cory Barlog.

Barlog mentioned last month that “some early things” had come together on his next video game project, implying the game was in the early stages of development. Now the studio is recruiting, development looks set to go up a gear. Hopefully, we hear more about these upcoming projects soon.

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A rumor recently emerged that the original God of War trilogy’s PS5 remake is in the works, with some expressing skepticism due to the source of the rumor. Now, some fans think that Sony’s cooking something, and the rumor might be true, much like how reports of God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla turned out to be true despite Santa Monica Studio denying that it was working on DLC.

Why fans think God of War trilogy PS5 remake rumor could be real

As spotted by Redditor ThingBudget, YouTuber GameBreakerGod recently live streamed Valhalla DLC and held a question-and-answer session with two Santa Monica Studio developers during the stream. When a follower asked the YouTuber why he didn’t quiz the developers about the rumored remake, GameBreakerGod said that Santa Monica Studio didn’t approve those questions.

Some fans have taken this as an indication that the God of War trilogy is probably headed to PS5, but it’s entirely possible that Santa Monica Studio simply didn’t want to answer anything not relevant to the subject matter of the video: Valhalla DLC.

Recently, current Kratos voice actor Chris Judge revealed that he was contacted to match the voice of former Kratos voice actor Terrence Carson, which he refused to do. Judge later issued a clarification that the request didn’t come from Santa Monica Studio after rumors of the remake began to circulate.

Make of this what you will.

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God of War‘s current Kratos voice actor Christopher Judge has revealed that he refuses to voice a young Kratos out of respect for Terrence C. Carson, who originally voiced the series’ protagonist between 2005 and 2013. Judge recently spoke of his “reverence” for Carson’s work. This article may contain potential spoilers, so read at your own risk.

Chris Judge turned down a request to voice young Kratos in God of War

Those who’ve completed God of War Ragnarok‘s Valhalla DLC will be aware that a young Kratos appears in the game when the current character comes face to face with his past. However, Kratos’ younger self doesn’t have a voice.

In a video clip published by YouTuber AbdBay, Judge mentions being contacted recently for a role in which he had to match the voice of Carson — an offer that he turned down because he felt it would be disrespectful towards Carson. He also spoke highly of Carson and praised his work.

Speaking of a young Kratos, a rumor emerged last weekend that Sony’s remastering the original God of War trilogy for the PS5. We haven’t seen any concrete evidence of this, but Judge’s comments make us wonder if Carson would ever make a return.

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An insider has claimed that Sony‘s remastering the original God of War trilogy for the PS5. The first two games in the series have previously been remastered for the PS3 and were also available on the PS Vita. God of War 3, which originally released on the PS3, has also been remastered for the PS4 and is currently playable on PS5 via backwards compatibility.

How credible is the God of War Trilogy PS5 remaster rumor?

This rumor — which has been circulating all weekend — came from Nick “Shpeshal Nick” Baker, who doesn’t exactly have an impeccable track record when it comes to leaks. However, Baker has previously shared insider information pertaining to Sony that was corroborated by reliable sources and turned out to be true.

In an XboxEra podcast with fellow insider and journalist Jeff Grubb, Baker claimed to have heard that the first three games in the God of War series will eventually land on the PS5 but he couldn’t confirm whether they will be straight ports of the PS3 remasters or not.

Baker added that he doesn’t believe God of War: Ascension will be part of the package. Ascension released in 2013 for the PS3, and was the last game to feature Terrence C. Carson as the voice of Kratos.

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God of War creator David Jaffe has revealed how he doesn’t like the character development of Kratos in the latest games. The ex-game developer turned commentator explained how he thought the father-and-son dynamic between the protagonist and Atreus and the storyline that developed didn’t befit the character that he created.

God of War’s Kratos is not a family man

God of War Ragnarok‘s animation director Bruno Velazquez once said in an interview that the game’s storyline reflected the studio’s personalities and personal experiences. The previous God of War games that took place during the Greek era reflected the team’s college years, but now the team has grown up and the developers have their own families. While Jaffe didn’t seem to mind this during the 2018 reboot of God of War, which he thought was “great,” Ragnarok turned out to be a different experience.

In his latest podcast, Jaffe went on to clarify that a story built around personal experiences like family relationships would have been perfectly fine for a new IP, or even a new character, but not for Kratos:

If you’re going to build a brand new IP or you’re going to build a character into the God of War lore and that character is struggling or dealing with your problems that a lot of you guys that have gotten older and girls at the studio have dealt with, that’s wonderful. Do that s*** all day long. But don’t take the character Kratos, or Indiana Jones, and go “you know what, […] I’m older now and I’m really into family and I want to tell stories about fathers and sons and God.” No […]. That’s not what this character is.

Despite Jaffe’s displeasure at the character’s development, plenty of people disagree and God of War Ragnarok recently hit a milestone of 15 million copies sold worldwide. The game’s senior writer Orion Walker has already teased that the recently-released Valhalla DLC was not the end of the story either, but whether this means more DLC or a whole new game remains to be seen.

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Several Call of Duty developers have backtracked after initially criticizing Kratos actor Christopher Judge’s joke about Modern Warfare 3‘s campaign length at The Game Awards 2023. Judge had joked — to audible gasps from the audience — that his TGA 2022 speech was longer than Modern Warfare 3’s campaign.

Chris Judge’s Modern Warfare 3 campaign joke resulted in devs attacking God of War

Two of the three dev tweets that went viral in response to Judge’s joke attacked God of War games, with one dev claiming that “CoD absolutely destroys all of the God of war games probably combined” and another tweeting “Imagine having short user engagement once your game is consumed.” A third developer simply said that they didn’t expect Judge to make such a comment knowing the crunch Modern Warfare III team went through.

The tweets garnered a lot of criticism from fans, following which they were scrubbed. One of the developers apologized to Judge, stating that “there’s a good chance that those words were not his.” Another developer stated that they were “joking” about God of War’s engagement, while a third stated that they have “no hate” for the Santa Monica Studio franchise.

You can see Judge’s original comments in the clip below around the 1:10 mark.

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Various Call of Duty developers are upset over a joke made by Christopher Judge at The Game Awards regarding the length of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III‘s campaign.

During last night’s Game Awards, Judge — who voiced Kratos in God of War and the subsequent sequel God of War Ragnarök — joked that his infamous acceptance speech last year was longer than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s campaign.

While many in the audience laughed at the joke, current and former developers online weren’t too happy. Various developers (via CharlieIntel) took to Twitter to share their distaste with the joke, while some also took shots at the God of War franchise for its sales and engagement compared to Call of Duty.

Developers feel hurt by the joke at their expense

“‘Funny’ but yeah the metrics that [Call of Duty] absolutely destroys all of the God of War games (probably combined [to be honest]) in is also equally laughable (if not more),” read one developers tweet. Another noted that God of War has “short user engagement” once the game is consumed, while another just lamented the fact that they were mocked by a peer at the awards.

“Honestly, as [Call of Duty] developers, we’ve heard way worse. But we don’t expect it from a peer, at an event that supposed to be celebrating this years achievements in gaming. Especially with all the information that was leaked about it’s development,” said one anonymous developer.

The Modern Warfare III campaign was mocked upon its release, as it seems to be able to be completed in only around 3-4 hours, a surprisingly low number compared to past years.

While Call of Duty campaigns are not notoriously long, they usually last up to around 8-10 hours to complete. The previous entry in the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, took around eight hours to beat, according to the game tracking website HowLongToBeat.

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Former Gears of War franchise narrative director Bonnie Jean Mah has announced that she’s joined God of War dev Santa Monica Studio. Mah is serving as narrative director at the PlayStation Studio on an unannounced project.

God of War dev reportedly working on a Ragnarok expansion

There’s no word on what Santa Monica Studio has been up to since God of War Ragnarok‘s release, but an increasing amount of reports — some from compelling sources — claim that the studio is working on a Ragnarok expansion of sorts.

Santa Monica Studio previously indicated that it has no plans for Ragnarok DLC or expansion, but has remained mum about the rumors. The only activity that reportedly came from the studio is a bunch of its developers allegedly blocking a popular fan on Twitter for sharing the aforementioned rumor.

“I’m very excited to share my news: I’ve joined Sony’s Santa Monica Studio as a Narrative Director,” Mah announced on both LinkedIn and Twitter. “I’m beyond thrilled to be working with this team and studio.”

While we don’t know what Santa Monica’s next game will be, job descriptions have hinted at an RPG game or a game with some RPG elements. Besides that, a new God of War game is pretty much a given.

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High on Life: High on Knife launched on October 3, adding several new levels to Squanch Games’ comedy first-person shooter. It also includes a direct jab at the God of War reboot’s puzzle hints, which often give away the solution.

High on Life mocks how God of War hints give the puzzles away

The High on Knife DLC takes place two years after the main game. It sees the protagonist helping their talking knife Knifey follow the return address of a letter from his homeworld. Early in the DLC, the player encounters a giant frog-like alien called Toxo. The goo he’s sitting in drains the players’ health, and they need to find a way to survive in it longer. Support NPC Suit-O will give players a tip if they are having trouble, but it also works in a dig at God of War’s Atreus.

“Hey there,” says the character, “Suit-O here! I’m gonna go ahead and give you a little God of War-style tip that just gives the whole puzzle away.” The AI then proceeds to explain how shooting the parasites feeding on Toxo causes them to drop a health pickup. Suit-O closes out his advice by saying, “A-Atreus out. Hahaha… Just kidding!”

High on Life is referencing how God of War’s NPCs don’t give players enough time to solve puzzles. Players have complained that if they take more than a few seconds to figure something out, Atrius will explain the solution. Developers presumably did this to keep anyone from getting stuck. However, it’s annoying for players who want to find the solution on their own. It also begs the question of why the game even has puzzles at all if it doesn’t let players solve them.

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