God Of War Couldn’t Have Been Open-World

Will God of War ever be open-world? Has the game ever considered that?

The God of War “reboot” on PS4 in 2018 was one of the best games of the year in the eyes of many. And yet, many can’t help but wonder if it could’ve been even better if it was an open-world title. The game was massive in scope, but you couldn’t just go and explore everywhere.

In an interview with GamesBeat, director Cory Balrog explained why this was the case:

“We kept describing it as ‘wide linear.’ I was adamant that we couldn’t make an open world game. The cost of entry and the expectation level is so high that we’d never compete. We just don’t have the infrastructure and the systems. I don’t want to do that.”

He elaborated further:

“To do these things, to do the complexity they have, you just need a lot of people. For us, not only do we not want to invest in that aspect of it, but to me the world needed to feel large, and not empty, but with surprising moments of discovery. It could feel like there were areas where there’s not a lot going on, and then all of a sudden an entirely new level opens up that you weren’t directed to, that you just discovered.”

So it seems it’s just not in the cards for the series.