God of War: Ragnarok, one of the most anticipated games of the year, finally has a release date, and despite some worries among the fans it will be out this year: Sony announced with a brief trailer that its next big father-and-son adventure will be out on November 9.
The week leading up to the release date has been unfortunately ugly, for the stupidest possible reason. Earlier in June, a rumor surfaced that the God of War: Ragnarok release date would be revealed on June 30. But on June 29, creative director Cory Barlog effectively shot down that rumor, asking fans to “be patient” and promising to share more information “at the earliest possible moment.” He also said, in very clear terms, that the game was not going to be delayed (opens in new tab).
That wasn’t good enough for angry gamers, many of whom reacted poorly to the absence of information they felt entitled to. The situation got bad enough that Ragnarok studio Sony Santa Monica issued a statement on July 1 asking followers to stop being so awful.
“Our fans inspire us, and we understand the passion and desire for more information,” the studio wrote. “But that passion should not be toxic nor come at the expense of any human being’s dignity.
“Let’s celebrate our community by treating each other, every gamer and developer alike, with respect.”
Barlog had some thoughts of his own about toxic fans—at one point he had to ask people to stop sending dick pics (opens in new tab) to his coworkers—but with the release date now official, he seems a little more upbeat about things.
Sadly, the release date announcement does not contain any sign that it applies to PC as well as PlayStation platforms. Sony has become far more open to releasing its big exclusives on PC (opens in new tab) in recent years, and the original God of War is now available (and doing extremely well for itself) on Steam (opens in new tab). But Sony has also stated unambiguously that it remains committed to its own consoles (opens in new tab) first and foremost, and that simultaneous launches on PlayStation and PC aren’t likely to happen, especially for big games like Ragnarok. Given all that, I think it’s likely that we still have a long wait ahead before we see God of War Ragnarok come our way.
Sony also revealed the various God of War Ragnarok editions (opens in new tab), a couple of which include (among other things) a pretty beefy-looking replica of Thor’s legendary hammer Mjolnir. Preorders open on July 15.
