God of War Laufey Has a Release Date; Will Connect to Next Mainline Title

It's been a relatively quiet time for PlayStation lately (likely due to the internet's backlash to Sony's decision to sunset the printing of physical media from 2028), but that silence has been broken with the announcement of God of War Laufey's release date.

In a post on X, Sony's announced that the next spin-off entry in what has typically been a Kratos-centered storyline will release on February 16 next year, and will see Deborah Ann Woll take the main stage as Laufey, Kratos' wife who dies just before the 2018 Nordic-centered title opens. The post also has a short teaser-y video which reveals the date.

In other God of War news, Cory Barlog, Creative Director at Santa Monica Studio -- the developers of the series -- has revealed (via IGN) that the events that occur through the story of Laufey will "set up and expand what's next" for Kratos, while trying to perhaps appease players who might be worried about the move away from Kratos with this spin-off. "There's always going to be Kratos games," said Barlog, "Like, throughout the whole history."

Criticism on the game has been mixed in recent weeks, with the majority of the criticism seemingly coming about due to the lack of, well, a God of War, in God of War Laufey. But the game has been getting some praise for its combat and gameplay, which seems to be far more action-packed with a faster pace that's been sorely missed, particularly in the modern iterations of Kratos' adventures.

PlayStation, however, is also in a precarious spot. It's in the spotlight more than ever in the past few weeks following their decision to stop printing physical media, with calls for a boycott [link TBD] growing in momentum.