God Of War Director: "Let's Put It To Bed For A While"
God of War IIIYou see some franchises arrive every year now. Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and most all sports titles like Madden spring readily to mind.
But you haven't seen annual installments in the God of War franchise, and you won't in the future, either. Furthermore, now that the SCEA Santa Monica team has completed God of War III, it might be an erroneous assumption to believe they're immediately going to work on the fourth entry. First of all, we know GoWIII is the conclusion of a trilogy, and secondly, director Stig Asmussen may do something different before returning to the award-winning series. As far as he's concerned, even a 2-3 year stretch between GoW titles is too much; they might take the Metroid approach instead. Here's what Asmussen said during a recent 1Up interview:
"I think there comes a time when to maintain a high level of quality... the bottom line is you can't get burned out, and the source material can't always be the same. I want God of War to be one of those games where if there are more God of Wars, we're seeing them spread out over time -- it's not like our studio's making a new God of War every two or three years or something like that, and then the series becomes irrelevant. I like the approach of, 'We just won't make Metroid for 10 years. Why do we have to keep making Metroid?' And then when it comes back, it's fresh and you remember why you loved that game so much. I think it would be good at this point to take that approach with God of War... For a trilogy, it's great. Let's put it to bed for awhile though."
So you had best get your fill with GoWIII because not only may it represent the final Kratos adventure, it could very well be the last God of War you see for three or four years. Oh, and as one added side note, the common estimate of a $100 million budget for GoWIII is way off the mark; Asmussen said the actual number isn't anywhere near that, and they had planned from the start to release the game in March 2010. There were "no delays along the way." Well, that's great, but no God of War for so long...? Might we suffer some ugly form of withdrawal?
3/1/2010 10:40:40 AM Ben Dutka
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Comments (37 posts)
telly
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 12:36:28 PM
Someone, maybe here, suggested once that the next GOW series should focus on the Norse Myths. This is a FANTASTIC idea, and one i hope Stig considers!
5 up, 0 down
ace_boon_coon
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 2:28:27 PM
4 up, 0 down
H8WL3R
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 2:47:48 PM
Last edited by H8WL3R on 3/1/2010 2:54:24 PM
0 up, 0 down
bearbobby
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 10:55:41 AM
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7 up, 1 down
ed_winchester
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 11:00:47 AM
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That way people will look back at the franchise and have nothing but good memories, whereas other devs milk their franchise to the point where people get a bit fed up of it, not mentioning any names...
11 up, 0 down
kraygen
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 11:41:29 AM
Halo *cough*cough* Halo, Halo, Halo!
12 up, 1 down
Banky A
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 @ 3:47:25 AM
kraygen you need to get your coughs checked up...
Some kind of contagious Halo flu?
:/
Last edited by Banky A on 3/2/2010 3:50:08 AM
1 up, 0 down
SmokeyPSD
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 11:04:11 AM
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3 up, 0 down
Miggy
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 11:12:06 AM
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3 up, 0 down
Dancemachine55
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 @ 1:22:35 AM
If that is the case, Sony would have the biggest lead in PS4 sales.
Oh good lord!!! Already talking about PS4, and we're still tapping into PS3's potential, must stop.... must stop!!!!
2 up, 0 down
FullmetalX10
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 11:47:20 AM
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3 up, 0 down
WolfCrimson
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 12:10:53 PM
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2 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 12:26:57 PM
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5 up, 0 down
SvenMD
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 12:30:38 PM
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Nice work Santa Monica.
3 up, 0 down
Dancemachine55
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 @ 1:28:21 AM
I'm guessing they have, but are too afraid to take the risk of straying too far. The "Hero" franchise only has 2 or 3 new entries this year as opposed to 12. Really, they should limit it to 1 new entry every 2 years.
Look how long ago Rock Band 2 came out, and Rock Band 3 is still a year off. I think Harmonix and Santa Monica have got their heads on straight and are thinking about the players, not the money they'll be seeing.
God of War, like Metroid, will go down in history as a legendary video game this way, rather than fizzling out quick with over-saturation.
Nice choice Santa Monica. Will miss Kratos, but will make the hype for the next God of War all that much bigger.
1 up, 0 down
sunspider13
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 1:43:19 PM
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0 up, 0 down
BTNwarrior
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 2:01:31 PM
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1 up, 1 down
Silent_J
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 2:23:27 PM
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15 more days till chaos!!
Last edited by Silent_J on 3/1/2010 2:26:34 PM
3 up, 0 down
tlpn99
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 2:43:50 PM
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1 up, 0 down
Bigimpactpooch
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 3:37:03 PM
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1 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 6:01:06 PM
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Their done with the trilogy, they're going out in style at the top of their game, and they want to make us another AAA IP.
Also add into the equation, the fact that by the time they do come back with another GOW4 type game, all of the tech should be even more advanced.
So we'll all be screaming out "GOW FTW" once we've seen first demo & screenshots of GOW4.
0 up, 0 down
Snaaaake
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 6:22:21 PM
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The hack and slash that's suppose to run at 1080p and 60 fps.
0 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 7:26:08 PM
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Same goes for Sont Santa Monica. What a great job they've done and what a great trilogy it has turned out to be.
I'll forgive you if we dont either see Kratos or another GOW game for 3 years or so... If I literally have to wait ten though like the reference quote a bout metroid, then there will be CHAOS!
3 up, 0 down
Karosso
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 8:33:36 PM
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Hope they use the GOW3 no matter what their next project is!
0 up, 0 down
FM23
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 9:05:07 PM
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2 up, 0 down
Dancemachine55
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 @ 1:36:44 AM
I'm going on 23 with a uni degree and 2 casual jobs. Imagine life in 4 years with a wife, maybe a child on the way and a full time job.
If that happens, perhaps the timing would be perfect for the next God of War. With such little time, can only afford the best of the best, such as God of War, Gran Turismo and Uncharted.
Will hold onto Rock Band and Singstar for awesome drunk parties!!! (for those under 21 reading (or 18 outside US) drink responsibly)*
*there's my community message for the day.
1 up, 0 down
Robochic
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 10:54:20 PM
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Can't wait for this game, man 15 more days till I have kratos in my arms LOL.
0 up, 0 down
Dancemachine55
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 @ 1:44:21 AM
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The first Halo was legendary, but it seems to me a lot of people are losing faith in it everytime a new Halo comes out.
Same goes with Guitar Hero. Could've been as legendary as Rock Band, at least we still have Harmonix.
CoD. It needs a 3 year break, seriously. In all franchises, WWII, Vietnam, Modern, etc. Just stop Activision!!!
Epic has got the right idea with Gears tho, and I give them a lot of respect for that. Gears 3 is still a long ways off, and will be an "Epic" launch. (no pun intended)
Good to see God of War go the same direction, taking the "legendary video games" platform alongside MGS, FF VII, Metroid, Zelda and God of War.
0 up, 0 down
___________
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 @ 2:07:51 AM
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GT5 has been in development for way longer than gow3 and thats only raked up arround 50M, same as GTAIV and they had to create a whole new engine for that.
or even KZ2 at the 30M mark.
or even LA Noire which is R*s most expensive game ever released thats why it went multiplatform and it cost them roughly 70M.
so yea i cant see a game costing 100M bucks, that is unless its name is duke nukem forever.
as for giving GOW a rest fine by me, but not 10 years.
3,4 maybe 5 fine by me, but not 10!
id say no less than 3 because well GOW is one series that is known for bending the rules of whats possible and i dont want to see that change.
0 up, 1 down
BigBoss4ever
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 @ 11:25:01 AM
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keep it fresh, keep it rare, make people want and demand it, this is truly a smart, wise and mature measure, thumbs up, go get some rest and deliver something new and different. do not dwell on the past.
fully agree with the director, if only all the director see the same way, our entertainment industry will be much better off.
0 up, 0 down
geovanwitdakick
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Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 10:53:47 AM