God of War Laufey will be the first time the series abandons its titular god Kratos and focuses instead on someone else's magic – in this case, Kratos' dead wife Laufey, or Faye, as the giantess navigates the perilous afterlife run by power-starving deities. The 20 minutes of footage developer Sony Santa Monica shared at PlayStation State of Play June 2026 makes the game look prettier than usual, with so many sparkles, purple flowers, and exceptionally cool aerial combos, but head of creative Cory Barlog says it's not really a series "departure."
He elaborates in a conversation with God of War Laufey game director Ariel Lawrence recently posted on the PlayStation Youtube. Barlog acknowledges that zooming in on the soft, kind, formidable mother Faye is "a different thing" than focusing on the permanently scowling dad Kratos, but God of War Laufey is "still part of the larger tapestry of what we truly, really want to explore, all of these different characters in there."
Crucially, for fans who already miss their frowning father, Barlog confirms that "there's always going to be Kratos games." He reiterates this in a new IGN interview, too, reminding fans Sony will "always tell stories about Kratos."
But with Kratos being a given, God of War Laufey instead gives "us some place" for the now nearly 10-year-old reboot series to make us "surprised and see how things connect," Barlog says. "So for us, it's not a departure; it's more of an expansion."
Nevertheless, even game director Ariel Lawrence says she was "a little shocked" to learn she would lead a game about Faye rather than "another Kratos game," since she had assumed "I would be telling stories about [Kratos] for the rest of my life."
But Barlog says, "For me, it's really exciting because, again [...] Kratos is sort of the" – "the trunk of our tree," Lawrence interjects. Barlog agrees, describing stoic Kratos as the 1,000-pound truck that "drives the franchise forward, and we want to follow him. But there are so many interesting characters that we created along the way."
I think Laufey, in particular, has been a looming shadow for so long, it's made me desperate to know her. It's her death that sets Sony Santa Monica's God of War series in motion, after all, and other characters speak of her with such reverence, I feel like I have to experience what she's like for myself. So I see God of War Laufey as finally addressing that need, at the perfect time (because I'd find any time perfect).
