God of War director thanks his team, the fans, and his dad as game goes gold

With less than a month to go, Santa Monica Studios’ God of War has “gone gold”, that celebratory development milestone where the master build finally gets sent for manufacture. Creative director Cory Barlog took to the PlayStation Blog and Twitter to express his gratitude, accompanying the post with a video discussing the game’s lack of cuts and loading screens.

“Going gold means so much more to me with this game,” wrote Barlog. “It has been a long and exhausting journey filled with laughs, arguments, and a healthy dose of fear – with a side of doubt. This was the scariest, most wonderful thing I have ever done and I can honestly say it would never have been possible without the full-throated support of Sony and the tireless work of the incredible team at Santa Monica Studio.”

Given the themes in God of War, he also took the opportunity to thank his father, James Barlog, for being “a source of inspiration and a great writer.” While the latter is a published author, he also has some brief experience with games, joining his son to write 2007’s God of War II.

God of War is gold, baby.! Thank you to every wonderful human who worked so hard to make this happen. Neither word nor emoji can express the love i have for you all. 🙏 Next stop, April 20th!!! pic.twitter.com/HBx7EwmJqq

— Cory Barlog 🤮 @ GDC and GOLD!! (@corybarlog) March 22, 2018

Accompanying the blog post is a video starring director of cinematography Dori Arazi, explaining how the team managed to achieve what they had once taught impossible: having God of War play out with a single shot.

“April 20 is fast approaching and I speak for the entire team here when I say we truly cannot wait for all of you to get your hands on this game,” ends Barlog’s post.

“Thank you to everyone for your support of an industry that allows me to prolong my childhood indefinitely and make a living telling people stories.”

We recently spoke to Santa Monica’s Aaron Kaufman, and wrote our thoughts about the game’s new direction in a hands-on preview.

God of War releases for the PlayStation 4.