Cory Barlog isn't directing God of War Ragnarok: "You've got to con somebody else into doing it"

God of War Ragnarok
(Image credit: Sony)

God of War Ragnarok has a new director, though he's just about the furthest thing possible from a newcomer to the franchise.

Sony revealed in the PlayStation Showcase 2021 post-show that work on God of War Ragnarok (which is now officially its title) is being led by Eric Williams, who has been with Sony's Santa Monica Studio since 2004 and in his time there worked on every God of War game in some capacity. God of War director Cory Barlog, who was also featured in the video, jumped in to officially pass the baton.

"The important thing for us is to be able to get a fresh perspective each time, but also a fresh pair of legs in the sense that you're really exhausted at the end of finishing one of these things, so you've got to con somebody else into doing it," Barlog joked. "Like him!"

Williams then explained what particular touch he hopes to put on God of War Ragnarok as its new game director - and as the title indicates, Ragnarok is coming, and this game will officially mark the end of God of War's Norse chapter.

"From my point of view, we want to tell a very heartfelt and epic story as a father and son on a journey," Williams explained. "They kind of struggle with holding on to stuff and letting go, that's a very difficult human condition that we all deal with. We want to arrive at that by taking slices of life, or family drama if you will, and juxtapose that against a big Norse backdrop. And at the end, we just want to have an ending that feels very surprising yet inevitable based on all those things." 

We have a bunch of new upcoming PS5 games to look forward to after getting through that showcase. 

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

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