God of War devs say they were "scared as hell" that they would "f*** up" the now-iconic E3 2016 reveal

God of War's 2016 reveal moment at E3 is perhaps one of the event's most memorable moments, but its developers were "scared as hell" leading into it.

You probably remember the God of War reveal from E3 2016, but just in case you don't, you can watch it below in full. Game director Cory Barlog was live on PlayStation's stage to play through roughly nine minutes of the game, as Kratos and Atreus journeyed through a forest and took on a troll, in what would come to be some of the earliest moments in the final game.

It all looks very slick and smooth, but Barlog and staff at developer Sony Santa Monica were anything but. In a tweet reacting to footage of him preparing to play God of War on PlayStation's stage, Barlog said he was "trying to seem cool but underneath I'm scared as hell I'm gonna fuck it up in front of the whole damn world." The wipe of the sweaty palms beforehand really shows you how the game director was feeling.

Elsewhere, God of War Ragnarok Valhalla game director Mihir Sheth, who also worked on the original 2018 game, said he was stressed from "knowing the bugs that were possible" in the demo. Sheth also reveals that former PlayStation head Shawn Layden said, "Now you feel the pressure" while looking at him "sternly" at a party shortly after the demo. Yeah, no pressure.

The original tweet Barlog and Sheth are reacting to bemoans the lack of live gameplay demos at showcases these days, and it's not hard to see why developers and publishers opt against it. An unlimited number of things can go wrong in a live demo, from controllers disconnecting and bugs popping up, which is to say nothing of the stress on the developer to get everything just perfect. If they put so much as a foot wrong, the entire thing could crumble in front of a live audience.

Take a look at our upcoming PS5 games guide for a look over Sony's schedule after the recent PlayStation State of Play May 2024 showcase.