Santa Monica Studio caught the world by surprise when God of War: Ragnarök was teased late last year in the build-up towards the PlayStation 5. It's a game that everyone knew was coming, but nobody expected it would be so soon.
While playing through God of War, there were many references to Ragnarök, and a fairly obvious sign that lead players to suspect it would be the focus of a future title. As it turns out, the game's sequel is getting right into it, with the tease that "Ragnarök is coming." While there aren't many details yet and there isn't a definitive release date, God of War: Ragnarök promises to be one of the PlayStation 5's biggest early games.
Last year, at the PlayStation 5 reveal event, God of War: Ragnarök was officially announced. The game's first teaser trailer revealed that Ragnarök would be the focus of the game and that it would be coming in 2021. While the timing of the announcement was a surprise, it's not unexpected that the game would release later this year. It's been almost three years since the release of God of War and that's not an unreasonable development schedule for a game of this caliber, given that many of the game's core systems and assets will likely be reused. But the chances of a 2021 release for God of War: Ragnarök feel like they could slip away fairly quickly.
Don't Be Surprised if God of War: Ragnarök is Delayed
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there's a strong possibility that many games originally announced for 2021 releases will see delays. Given the fact that God of War: Ragnarök was not considered to be in the PlayStation 5 launch window, it's safe to assume the game was going to be Sony's big holiday release this year. If God of War: Ragnarök was on schedule for its previously announced 2021 release and Santa Monica Studio was set back by the pandemic, then it's likely that the game will see a delay to the late spring or early summer window of 2022.
For the time being, God of War: Ragnarök is still scheduled to be released in 2021 and remains as one of the most highly-anticipated video game titles this year. God of War was an incredibly well-received game, and given the recent disaster surrounding Cyberpunk 2077 studios and publishers could become incredibly cautious regarding the state that high profile games are releasing in. As a result, it's not unreasonable to expect God of War: Ragnarök to receive a delay into 2022.
