Today God of War Director Cory Barlog spoke at Devcom in Cologne about the creation of the game, and he shared some interesting info on the early days of the popular PS4 title’s development.
According to Barlog (as reported by GameSource) Norse mythology wasn’t the only candidate for the game, but at some point, three more options were in the running: Egyptian, Inca, and Hindu myths.
After an initial selection, only Egyptian and Norse mythologies were left in the competition, with a 50/50% split (as reported by Twitter user PlayUnexplored). It was Barlog himself who cast the final vote in favor of the Norse setting.
The Egyptian setting was considered seriously enough that explorative concept art was created, and you can see one example presented at the conference below.
We can see a sphynx and a masked warrior similar to the soldiers of Anubis in The Mummy or the Ushabti in Warhammer. Atreus is still present, but his outfit is definitely inspired by Egyptian gear.
More information from the keynote was shared by Barlog himself, and by the official Devcom Twitter.
We see the evolution for Atreus, whose concept apparently “scared many people.” Barlog also mentioned that the team at Santa Monica had three years of content, but only two to turn it into a game. There were constant discussions on what to keep and what to cut, and Barlog explained that having great producers really matters in this process.
We recently heard that the game “significantly exceeded” Sony’s expectations. It’s also the fastest-selling exclusive in PlayStation’s history according to NPD. It’ll get an update that will enable a New Game Plus feature tomorrow.
If you have not purchased God of War just yet, you can grab a copy on Amazon.
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