Back in early 2011, rumours started fluttering about that the next major God of War title would include online multiplayer. After a job listing was posted on Gamasutra, it seems those rumours have gained new traction.
The listing in question is one of two openings put up on the gaming news and employment site, and advertises the position of Senior Online Gameplay Programmer at SCE Santa Monica, the developers of the God of War series. Prospective applicants are invited in the description to “join the God of War team,” the biggest hint so far that Santa Monica Studios are planning to add multiplayer elements to the next installment.
If this proves to be the case, the exact nature of the multiplayer modes could be interesting. Will it be a purely matchmaking-based style, or will God of War 4 add cooperative gameplay? God of War III could easily be the end to the Kratos saga, and even if he does return, it could easily be in a supporting role to other new protagonists. After not seeing any multiplayer action in previous titles in the series, there is more than enough potential for it to go down very well in a new storyline.
Personally, I would rather see a line drawn under Kratos’s time as the leading character, and Santa Monica Studios have the perfect chance now to shift the focus onto new areas. Going by the listing, a competitive multiplayer element seems likely. Among the responsibilities listed is ”Designing and implementing systems and tools to support networking needs (such as in-game communication, client-server, match-making, leaderboards).” Cooperative play could still be a very interesting twist to the series.
Whatever the case may be, I’m sure that come E3, we may know a lot more about what to expect from the next installment, believed to be scheduled for a release later this year.
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