Santa Monica Working On A New IP Is A Logical Step Beyond God of War

See full bio

Abiyan

At Tech4gamers, I cover all sorts of gaming news. Whether it’s a leak of any upcoming game or an update, an announcement, or a rumour, I like to write about it all. Over the weekend, I sit and write features where I talk about games that I miss or want to see return.

See full bio

Santa Monica has been one of Sony’s biggest party developers for over two decades. The developers started with Kinetica, a racing game released in 2001 for PS2.

Soon after that, the developers worked on the first game in the God of War franchise in 2005, and to this date, Santa Monica hasn’t worked on any other franchise. Around the last two decades, God of War has been the only franchise they have worked on.

However, a recent job listing suggests the developers may be working on a new IP. While this hasn’t been officially confirmed, I believe the recent rumors make sense.

Why it matters: The work on the God of War franchise is still ongoing, as another job listing that the team may work on multiple titles in the franchise, and one of them could be the Atreus spin-off. 

Santa Monica Has Proven Itself Enough With The GOW Franchise

I think Santa Monica should be allowed to work on something different and new, as the developers have proven themselves enough with the God of War franchise. Starting from the first entry released in 2005 to the latest entry released in 2022, all have been critically acclaimed and enjoyed by almost everyone. 

With every new entry, Santa Monica had always done its best to offer something better and unique, making the experience much more enjoyable, and so on; the studio got stuck on the franchise and couldn’t get the time to work on anything else. 

While many reports still suggest that the studio may be working on multiple God of War games, I hope that the studio gives it a break for a while and works on a new IP, something I and other fans of the studio have been waiting for years.

Santa Monica is such a credible studio that it makes me wonder how many amazing franchises they would have developed if they worked on something besides God of War in the past. Nonetheless, I think it’s still not too late for the change. 

Santa Monica Could Be Working On A New Sci-fi Franchise 

Although nothing has been officially announced, based on some recent speculations, the studio may be working on a new sci-fi IP.

Not too long ago, one of the Santa Monica developers hinted that the studio was working on a new sci-fi IP. The job listing was then shared on the studio’s official site, confirming that they were working on a new IP.

If true, I am more than excited to see how the team would pull off in the genre.

Since the team has only worked on the God of War franchise in the last two decades, an action-adventure franchise, I am curious to see how it would develop a sci-fi-based IP. 

Santa Monica Working On A New IP Is Also Great For PlayStation 

PlayStation has always focused on new IPs from first-party developers. Likes of God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Ghost of Tsushima, Uncharted, The Last of Us, and many others have proven to be great success for the company.

It helped PlayStation sell more consoles overall as its exclusive first-party titles are worth buying it for. Therefore, I think it has been an excellent strategy for PlayStation to build more franchises from first-party developers.

While recent releases like Stellar Blade and Helldivers 2 have seen great success, it proves that many players like me are always looking for new and unique experiences. Santa Monica working on a new IP fits well even with the PlayStation’s strategy.

Although nothing is confirmed at the moment, I really hope the studio works on something new and takes on a new challenge. 

Abiyan

[News Reporter]

Abiyan is on track to complete his Computer Science bachelor’s degree. His enthusiasm for writing and gaming motivates him to keep readers and gamers updated with the latest information from the industry. In his free time, Abiyan enjoys playing Dota 2 and Rocket League. Abiyan has also been cited in reputed websites such as Kitguru, Comicbook, GamingBible, Eurogamer and Gamingbolt.