God of War's original director, David Jaffe, asserted that the long-awaited God of War: Ragnarok will be accessible on both the Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 consoles.
Jaffe claimed that the title will be a cross-gen release while answering questions from fans on his personal Twitch channel (via GamesRadar). When asked about the upcoming sequel, Jaffe responded, "I'm sure the next God of War will be on PS4, PS5. Of course, it will be." However, Jaffe has not been involved in the franchise since the launch of God of War 2 in 2007.
It was previously confirmed that God of War: Ragnarok will be coming to PlayStation 5. Although no official announcement has been made by Sony regarding the game being released on PS4, speculators at GamesRadar predict that a dual release is highly likely, since Sony will be launching exclusive games on both consoles to continue throughout 2021, including Horizon: Forbidden West. This has also been inferred from a 2020 interview with Sony Interactive Entertainment's head of platform programming, Hideaki Nishino, who said that "for the time being, development for the PS4 is also necessary," considering the earlier console's vast user base.
Although the plot of the latest installment of the action-adventure game currently under development by Santa Monica Studio remains unknown, fans can expect the previous protagonists Kratos and his son Atreus to feature prominently. With elements of combat, puzzles, and platforming, the original God of War (2005) game was tied as the highest-rated game in the franchise with the upcoming installment's immediate predecessor, God of War (2018) with both receiving several perfect scores from critics.
Standing in the ranks of Insomniac and Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio is widely considered one of Sony's best developers. Some critics consider the choice to release the game on PS4 a potential mistake, arguing that the PS5's current shortage of exclusive games may discourage users from upgrading their consoles. Currently, it would appear that Sony isn't relying on exclusivity to incentivize sales, with the latest generation having recently broken the all-time unit and dollar sales records, becoming the best-selling game console in U.S. history.
Developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, God of War: Ragnarok will release in 2021 for the PlayStation 5.
Source: GamesRadar, Twitter