God of War's 20th anniversary announcement comes without a remaster, but PlayStation is giving us some sick new God of War Ragnarok skins and a 67-inch Jörmungandr plush

God of War Ragnarok
(Image credit: PlayStation)

The 20th anniversary of the God of War series is upon us, and PlayStation has just announced a range of new merch and updates to celebrate – but, sadly, the announcements do not include the long-awaited remaster of the original PS2 and PS3 games.

On Thursday, March 20, the Dark Odyssey Collection is coming to God of War Ragnarok as a free update on PS5, PS4, and PC. "Inspired by the working name of God of War (2005) and the skin that originally appeared in God of War II as a reward for beating the game on God Mode difficulty, we are bringing the classic black and gold theme for the 20th anniversary," according to the announcement on the PlayStation Blog.

The update will include a new skin and armor set for Kratos, as well as fresh looks for Atreus and Freya, new weapon appearances and attachments, and a selection of new shield appearances. Once your game is patched, you'll be able to grab those items "from any Lost Items chest in the base game or automatically while in Valhalla," the announcement explains.

God of War Ragnarok

(Image credit: PlayStation)

The rest of the announcement includes a fan kit with some digital goodies, an art show in LA, and some new merch like art and retrospective books, a vinyl soundtrack collection, t-shirts, and a 67-inch Jörmungandr plush. I have a pretty intense snake phobia and I still think that fuzzy Jörmungandr looks delightful.

But this announcement is still likely to be disappointing for many God of War fans, as it doesn't include any hint of new remasters for classic entries in the series. Rumors of a "Greek Saga" collection have persisted for months, but those rumblings have never really been substantiated, even by the industry's more notable leakers. The original PS2 games and their PSP spin-offs were previously remastered on PS3, but those collections are now well over a decade old and unplayable on modern consoles.

God of War turns 20 this month, but before you get too excited, Santa Monica Studio says "there are no planned announcements" at its celebratory panel.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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