Post
Sony's first-party studio that successfully reinvented its flagship franchise mid-life and won Game of the Year for it.
Founded in 1999 by Allan Becker, Santa Monica Studio defined the PS2/PS3 era with the original God of War trilogy — visceral, hack-and-slash, mythologically violent action games that helped sell the PlayStation brand. After 2010's God of War III, the studio took an unusually long break to reinvent the franchise. God of War (2018), directed by Cory Barlog, replaced the camera, combat, mythology, and protagonist's tone — and won Game of the Year. The Norse saga concluded with Ragnarök (2022).
Example
The 2018 reboot's 'one-shot camera' (no cuts during gameplay or cutscenes for the entire ~25-hour campaign) was a technical and narrative gambit that cost the team enormous engineering effort. It became the franchise's signature visual identity.
Why it matters
Santa Monica showed AAA franchises can be successfully reinvented rather than retired or rebooted from scratch. It's now the template Sony pushes its other first-party studios toward: take longer, change more, ship fewer games.
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