Sony’s 2026 PlayStation State of Play closed with a 20-minute gameplay presentation that instantly divided the internet. Santa Monica Studio is officially building a God of War game without Kratos. The upcoming PS5 spinoff, God of War Laufey, shifts the camera to Kratos’ wife and Atreus’ mother, Faye, sending her through a mysterious afterlife known as the “Everywhen.”
The immediate absence of the Ghost of Sparta triggered intense social media pushback from players accustomed to the traditional formula. Director Ariel Lawrence directly addressed the friction, urging players to give the spinoff a chance and arguing that modern gaming desperately needs mystery and surprise. The mainstream confusion over the protagonist swap even reached corporate accounts, with Domino’s Pizza chiming in online to post that a God of War title missing Kratos feels completely out of place.
But the PS5 footage shows a fascinating mechanical pivot for the series. Voiced by Deborah Ann Woll, Faye ditches heavy axe swings for speed, high-altitude aerial attacks, and abilities tied to the Golden Hand of the Jötnar. The new magic system lets players physically manipulate souls on the battlefield. She also travels with a highly unusual supporting cast. Jack Quaid voices a cosmic cube named Phranque, while Perlina Lau plays a sword protector named Rue.
Why the “Everywhen” Pushes the Franchise Past Norse Lore
The most interesting technical detail buried in the early 2027 release window is how Santa Monica Studio is treating the map design and enemy variety. Faye’s death kicked off the 2018 reboot, and her post-death journey serves to finalize the Norse era of the franchise. But the studio is breaking a major structural rule to do it.
For the first time in franchise history, God of War Laufey drops a protagonist into multiple distinct mythologies within a single game. Because the “Everywhen” acts as a collective afterlife, the footage showed Faye actively fighting alongside and against gods from both Asian and Egyptian pantheons. The 20-minute demo explicitly included encounters with the Egyptian warrior goddess Sekhmet and the Mongolian war deity Begtse. This allows the developers to test entirely new enemy archetypes and environments without committing to a full numbered sequel in a single region.