Santa Monica Studio, the globally recognized developer behind the critically acclaimed God of War franchise, is reportedly making significant strides on its mysterious, unannounced AAA title. Industry reports and recent job listings suggest that the studio’s secret project has officially moved into the mid-production phase.
This crucial milestone indicates that the core concept and pre-production stages are complete, and the development team is now focused on the full-scale creation of the game’s assets and content. Typically, the entry into mid-production suggests that a project is past its most experimental phase and is progressing steadily toward completion.
A New Direction for the Studio
While specific details about the game remain highly classified, the title is confirmed to be a new Intellectual Property (IP), marking a bold and different direction for the studio that has primarily been known for the God of War series. The developers have previously stated that this new project will be a significant departure from the world of Kratos and Norse mythology.
The latest evidence, including job postings for specialized roles like ‘Senior Character Technical Artist,’ corroborates the project’s advancement. The hiring of such specialized talent is a telltale sign that the visual and technical pipelines for the game’s characters are being finalized.
Anticipating the Reveal
For dedicated PlayStation fans, the transition to the mid-production phase is highly encouraging, as it dramatically shortens the timeline to a potential public reveal. Given Santa Monica Studio’s reputation for blockbuster, narrative-driven games, excitement is mounting over what kind of genre and world they are exploring next.
While the studio continues to support and expand the God of War universe (presumably working on the next installment), the progress of this new IP confirms the developer’s massive scale and capacity to manage multiple highly ambitious projects simultaneously. An official announcement is now more likely than ever, potentially at a major industry event in the near future.
