God of War

God of War is an action-adventure video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE). It was released in April 2018 for the PlayStation 4, with a Microsoft Windows version released in January 2022. The game is the eighth installment in the God of War series, the eighth chronologically, and the sequel to 2010's God of War III.

Unlike previous games, which were loosely based on Greek mythology, this installment is loosely inspired by Norse mythology, with the majority of it set in ancient Scandinavia in the realm of Midgard. For the first time in the series, there are two protagonists: Kratos, the former Greek God of War who remains the only playable character, and his young son, Atreus. Following the death of Kratos' second wife, Atreus' mother, they journey to fulfill her request that her ashes be spread at the highest peak of the nine realms. Kratos keeps his troubled past a secret from Atreus, who is unaware of his divine nature. Along their journey, they come into conflict with monsters and gods of the Norse world.

Described by creative director Cory Barlog as a reimagining of the franchise, a major gameplay change is that Kratos makes prominent use of a magical battle axe instead of his signature double-chained blades. God of War also uses an over-the-shoulder free camera, with the game in one shot, as opposed to the fixed cinematic camera of the previous entries. The game also includes role-playing video game elements, and Kratos' son Atreus provides assistance in combat. The majority of the original game's development team worked on God of War and designed it to be accessible and grounded. A separate short text-based game, A Call from the Wilds, was released in February 2018 and follows Atreus on his first adventure.

God of War received universal acclaim for its story, world design, art direction, music, graphics, combat system, and characters, in particular the dynamic between Kratos and Atreus. Many reviewers felt it had successfully revitalized the series without losing the core identity of its predecessors. It has been cited as among the best video games ever made, and was awarded Game of the Year by numerous media outlets and award shows. The game also performed well commercially, selling over five million copies within a month of its release and over 19.5 million by August 2021, making it the best-selling PlayStation 4 game as well as the best-selling game in the series. A novelization was released in August 2018, followed by a prequel comic series published from November 2018 to February 2019. A sequel, God of War Ragnarök, is scheduled for release in November 2022 for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.