God of War

God of War  is an  action-adventure game  developed by  Santa Monica Studio  and published by  Sony Interactive Entertainment . It was released for the  PlayStation 4  in April 2018, with a  Windows  port in January 2022. The game is the eighth installment in the  God of War  series , the eighth chronologically, and the sequel to 2010's  God of War III . Unlike previous games, which were loosely based on  Greek mythology , this installment is loosely inspired by  Norse mythology , with the majority of it set in ancient  Scandinavia  in the realm of  Midgard . For the first time in the series, there are two protagonists:  Kratos , the former Greek God of War who remains the only  playable character , and his young son, Atreus. Following the death of Kratos' second wife Faye—Atreus' mother—the two embark on a journey to fulfill her request that her ashes be spread at the highest peak of the  nine realms . Kratos keeps his  troubled past  a secret from Atreus, who is unaware of his divine nature. Along their journey, they come into conflict with monsters and  gods of the Norse world . Described by creative director  Cory Barlog  as a reimagining of the franchise, a major  gameplay  change is that Kratos makes prominent use of a magical  battle axe  instead of his signature  double-chained blades .  God of War  also uses an  over-the-shoulder free camera , with the game in  one shot , as opposed to the  fixed cinematic camera  of the previous entries. The game also includes  role-playing video game  elements, and Kratos' son Atreus provides assistance in combat. The majority of the original game's development team worked on  God of War  and designed it to be accessible and grounded. A separate short  text-based game ,  A Call from the Wilds , was released in February 2018 through  Facebook Messenger  and follows Atreus on his first adventure. Three days before  God of War 's release, a smartphone companion app called  Mímir's Vision  was made available, providing additional information about the game's Norse setting. God of War  received universal acclaim for its story, world design, art direction, music, graphics, combat system, and characters, in particular the dynamic between Kratos and Atreus. Many reviewers felt it had successfully revitalized the series without losing the core identity of its predecessors. It has been cited as among the  greatest video games ever made , and was awarded  Game of the Year  by numerous media outlets and award shows. The game also performed well commercially, selling over 5 million units within a month of its release and 23 million units sold by November 2022, making it one of the  best-selling PlayStation 4 games  and the best-selling game in the series. A  novelization  was released in August 2018, followed by a  prequel comic series  that began publication in November 2018 and concluded in June 2021, while a  live action  television series is currently in development for  Amazon Prime Video . A sequel,  God of War Ragnarök , released in November 2022 for the PlayStation 4 and  PlayStation 5 .