God of War Ragnarok: Developer Says "Writing Is Always Political"

By Rollin Bishop

PlayStation finally revealed the first real look at the upcoming video game God of War Ragnarok during its recent PlayStation Showcase 2021, and that includes a number of new details and characters like Thor, Angrboda, and more. As with previous God of War video games, while Ragnarok is certainly inspired by mythology, Norse this time around, it is clearly not beholden to it. Following the trailer, there were some vocal folks online that complained about decisions like Thor being burly or Angrboda being a young Black woman. God of War Ragnarok narrative director Matt Sophos has taken the time to address these comments, specifically those about Angrboda, noting that "writing is *always* political."

"Angrboda in our game is a young black woman," Sophos shared over on Twitter. "The vast, vast majority of players are thrilled and think she looks incredible—and boy, does she. But a tiny, vocal sliver of the internet was offended at this notion. I'm going to address a few of the main topics of outrage."

Sophos goes on in the Twitter thread, which you can check out in full yourself below, to specifically talk about outside pressure and the impact of mythology on the game's design and more, but it is his point about writing being political that is perhaps most noteworthy -- especially in a space that is commonly mocked for pretending it is not.

"As a writer, your job is to tell stories that are compelling & relatable," Sophos stated. "You bring pieces of yourself to stories and your opinions shine through. So writing is *always* political—it's just usually only called that if the politics aren't agreed with."

God of War Ragnarok is currently set to release for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2022. As for the God of War franchise from Sony's Santa Monica Studio in general, the latest and greatest title is available for PlayStation 4 and as a backwards-compatible title on the PlayStation 5. It also just so happens to be included in the PlayStation Plus collection. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the God of War franchise right here.

What do you think about what we have seen so far about God of War Ragnarok? Are you looking forward to learning more about the new God of War title in the near future? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!

[H/T TheGamer]

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