Santa Monica Studio, the developers behind the upcoming God of War Ragnarok, issued a statement about recent discussions, rumors, and instances of harassment this week. The studio promised its community that every person within Santa Monica was working on a game they’re proud of and that the community inspires the devs, though the studio did ask at the end that people treat each other with respect amid all the controversy that’s gone on this week.
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If you’re not caught up on the Ragnarok news, something pertaining the game was supposedly going to be announced this week. Rumors suggested as much, and Cory Barlog, the game director for 2018’s God of War, returned to Twitter with presumed teases that added to the speculation. All these teasers were supposedly set to come to fruition on June 30th, but that day came and went with no release date news or any news at all regarding Ragnarok.
Naturally, people who’d gotten their hopes up by rumors and such took to social media to vent their frustrations, and often times, those grievances were directed towards developers who were subjected to demands for news and were berated for not having something to share despite the situation being out of their control. On July 1st, Santa Monica Studio shared the following statement to address the situation:
“Every single person at Santa Monica Studio is working to create a game that we’re proud of, one that we hope you will enjoy playing once released,” the statement read. “Our fans inspire us, and we understand the passion and desire for more information. 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.
Similar responses have been shared by individual developers in the wake of this harassment. Insiders were also blamed in part for the hype drummed up around the announcement which may or may not have ever been planned for June 30th in the first place, but Barlog (who is not serving as the director of Ragnarok this time) urged people not to look for someone to blame.
God of War Ragnarok will come to teh PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 but does not yet have a release date.
