God of War director Cory Barlog took to his official Twitter account today to create a mega-thread of the game’s origins, as well as feature photos of the developers. This thread comes on the heels of the “Raising Kratos” reveal, which is an upcoming documentary that will follow Barlog, the Santa Monica Studios team, and the actors who portrayed Kratos, Atreus, and Freya as they work on God of War.
The first post of the massive Twitter thread shows how everything started — with scribbles, notes on a board, and notecards:
Reminiscing about how crazy the last 6 yrs has been so I thought I would create a GOW BTS THREAD of photos + thoughts. Buckle up, gonna’ be long.
It all started out as scribbles and notes on a board and a stack of note cards. Big board image is an early breakdown of the story. pic.twitter.com/a1iZB0SllK
— Cory Barlog
#Raising Kratos (@corybarlog) April 21, 2019
The image of the eraser board in the tweet above is a breakdown of the early story. It’s fascinating to see the creative process in action and how chaotic the whole affair can be. From the team taking sword fighting seminars, to the mo-cap actors in their full gear, to innocent prop showcasing that nearly lead to an entire game being spoiled before launch, seeing this sort of candid look at everyone who worked on such an incredible game is truly special.
The rest of the thread’s full breakdown is posted below and showcases all the fun and juicy behind the scenes takes:
As we prepped the game various members of the team took sword fighting combat seminars, outdoor survival training in an effort to gain insights we could not get from Youtube or books. pic.twitter.com/WVVrqcwGXy
— Cory Barlog
Gotta’ say that some of my favorite moments happened when we were on the stage. The entire stage crew and performers were just bloody brilliant. Made my job easy really. pic.twitter.com/v8Mn4yYlJ8
— Cory Barlog
Not one day was bad when we were shooting. Even when I got really sick, and @iamchrisjudge convinced me to drink a warm apple cider vinegar shot – which gave me energy but was so incredibly disgusting and I nearly threw up – I still had a great day.
pic.twitter.com/KKeWIeWQiR
— Cory Barlog
All the while the team is hard at work back in the studio trying to put all the pieces together. Sadly, I did not always remember to take pictures so not many to choose from. Oh, and i there in a shot of me and Yumi taken right after I admitted she was right and I was wrong.
— Cory Barlog
Rich and Bruno wore ties on set one day. It really threw me off so I kept saying they were from the legal department and they just started their own firm. This is photo for the bus ads. The slogan is, “We will fight for you, BOI!”
+ more of the great team @SonySantaMonica.
pic.twitter.com/0nT2n7Dafe
— Cory Barlog
Oh, these photos from PSX remind me of how we totally forgot The Witch of the Woods necklace said Baldur on it. We were trying to keep her identity and Baldur a secret before launch. I only remembered when we saw the prop on display. Yikes. Thank god no one noticed.
— Cory Barlog
Kratos was at the first PSX. We did a retrospective panel on this stage where I kinda’ confirmed we were doing another God of War when I was MOST DEFINITELY Not supposed to do that. Got into a little bit of trouble. At a later PSX I got to hang out w/ people cooler than me.
— Cory Barlog
Kratos was at the first PSX. We did a retrospective panel on this stage where I kinda’ confirmed we were doing another God of War when I was MOST DEFINITELY Not supposed to do that. Got into a little bit of trouble. At a later PSX I got to hang out w/ people cooler than me.
— Cory Barlog
I can’t believe the E3 reveal was almost 3 years ago. Love this shot of the orchestra rehearsing on the mo-cap stage before the event. Also a shot of me giving my best “thinking Kojima” pose. The last image is a view I would be seeing for awhile. Never stops being weird.
pic.twitter.com/kxA6warbof
— Cory Barlog
Some people wonder why we don't see Odin in the game, well that's because we never really nailed the concept for him. This image represents the best we got, so I decided he would be a character you feel more than see.
Also Shannon bought me vitamins because she cares.
— Cory Barlog
Careening forward in time a lot, because I took so few pics, the game is nearly done and I am off to London, Paris to talk about it. All the local Sony groups put on incredible events! Was sad I only got to be in each place for a day. I would be traveling for many months to come. pic.twitter.com/DICuSH9yLD
— Cory Barlog
One of the other super subtle hints I did in Berlin that no one caught – Baldur beers lined up on a table! Crafty!
Really fun time and was early in the trip so I actually still had a decent amount of energy. By the end I was so tired.
pic.twitter.com/kIcGaj3Agw
— Cory Barlog
Madrid and Milan were really fun. The event in Madrid included a large group of fans that got to attend as well. This was the biggest crowd and the first time I got really nervous I forgot everything I was supposed to say. The people in Milan rocked!
— Cory Barlog
I was pretty damn tired by the time I got to NY. But the fact I got to hang out with David Harbor and Lucy James made up for that. It was like 30 freakin' degrees F on that set and, because there was no door, a few wild birds decided to hang out in the rafters. Wild.
— Cory Barlog
Norway was insane. Beautiful, cold and they had a longboat. Chris and I were freaked out to get on the boat. We were both convinced that we were gonna’ fall into the freezing water. Also, neither of us packed for how cold it was. Good times.
— Cory Barlog
George, a forge, some whiskey and some crying. That pretty much sums up Sydney. The selfie is right after I read the reviews. Great end to the adventure.
Hope you enjoyed this 1 year anniversary trip down memory lane. Thank you to everyone who made and supported this game.
— Cory Barlog
— Cory Barlog
This year marks the one year anniversary of God of War‘s release and Sony has been celebrating in style. The devs released a video thanking fans for their continued support of the game, rewarding it with a free dynamic PS4 theme. There’s also the recent “One Year Later” trailer and a still ongoing sale on the game.
Finally, fans are getting anniversary merchandise for the occasion through a partnership between Sony Santa Monica Studios and Mondo. The limited run merch includes a special edition poster, pins, and a Kratos figurine.
Check out our own DualShockers review of God of War (hint: we really loved it!) here and if you still haven’t played the game yet, you can purchase it here.
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