DEATH IS ONLY THE BEGINNING IN GOD OF WAR LAUFEY
Santa Monica Studio’s surprise announcement at Sony’s State of Play left God of War fans stunned — and talking. God of War Laufey, the next chapter in one of PlayStation’s most celebrated franchises, was revealed to an audience that had long wondered what came next after the events of Ragnarök. The answer was not what anyone expected: not a new era, not a new god of war, but the woman who started it all.
Developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by PlayStation Studios, Laufey shifts the spotlight to Faye, the legendary Jötunn warrior, wife of Kratos, and mother of Atreus, in a story that picks up from the moment her funeral pyre was lit. The reveal trailer drew an immediate and passionate response from the God of War community, with fans praising the bold creative direction and the choice to centre the series’ most mythologised supporting character in her own adventure. When Kratos scattered his wife’s ashes across the highest peak in the Nine Realms, the world believed Faye, the warrior known as Laufey the Just, was gone forever.
God of War Laufey reveals what truly happened next.
A New Kind of Afterlife
The reveal trailer opens with Faye awakening in a realm unlike anything she encountered in her life. Welcome to the Everywhen, the afterlife of the gods themselves. What’s immediately striking is the visual scale of things: a transcendent plane above the Nine Realms, lush and otherworldly, where deities from across mythology coexist in anything but harmonious peace. It looks unlike any location the series has visited before, yet somehow still unmistakably God of War.
Faye’s plans to protect Kratos and Atreus from beyond death are now in jeopardy. To keep her family safe, she must fight her way through a realm of dangerous magic, ruthless gods, and forces that do not welcome new arrivals. The trailer offered brief but striking glimpses of two such gods — Sekhmet and Begtse, drawn from Egyptian and Mongolian mythology respectively — and neither looked remotely pleased to find a Jötunn warrior in their midst.
Faye’s Companions
Reprising her role from God of War Ragnarök, Deborah Ann Woll leads the cast as Faye, and her performance in the trailer’s opening moments already suggests a character with far more to say than the Norse saga ever gave her the chance to. She won’t be facing the Everywhen alone, however, as two unlikely companions join her shortly after she wakes.
Phranque, voiced by Jack Quaid, is a curious cosmic cube with an earnest disposition who will do whatever it takes to protect his friends and the creatures of the Everywhen — and based on what the trailer showed, he looks set to bring a lighter touch to what is otherwise a story steeped in high stakes. Rue, voiced by Perlina Lau, is an enchanted ribbon guardian tasked with keeping a devastatingly powerful sword from falling into the wrong hands — a sword that Faye herself will wield.
Combat Built for a Legend
As the Golden Hand of the Jötnar, the most powerful protector of the Giants of Jötunheim, Faye proved herself the equal of Thor, one of the strongest gods in the Nine Realms. Her combat in Laufey is built to reflect that legend, and the gameplay footage shown in the trailer makes that immediately clear.
Santa Monica Studio has crafted a system that blends the fluidity of the Greek-era games with the world-building depth of the Norse saga. What the trailer showed was a Faye who moves with remarkable freedom, leaping between ground and air without interrupting the flow of combat, chaining strikes together in a way that feels both powerful and graceful. It’s a hyper-responsive, momentum-driven fighting style that appears to reward aggression and creativity in equal measure.
Her primary weapon is a legendary sword, earned through the trust of her new companion Rue. In the trailer’s combat sequences, the blade looked devastatingly fast, with speed, control, and relentlessness defining its tempo in a way that feels distinct from both the Leviathan Axe and the Blades of Chaos.
The Power of the Golden Hand
One of the most visually arresting moments in the reveal came when Faye unleashed her soul manipulation abilities. The Giants of Jötunheim wielded magic so powerful that even Odin viewed them as one of the greatest threats to his rule, and in the Everywhen, a realm steeped in the oldest magic in existence, those abilities appear to be amplified far beyond anything seen in the Norse saga.
The trailer showed Faye striking a foe with her golden palm with such force that their soul was visibly torn from their body. From there, she attacked the soul directly, knocked it into surrounding enemies, and chained it into a devastating combination, a sequence that suggests a combat system with serious depth waiting to be uncovered.
The Vision Behind the Game
Laufey is directed by Ariel Lawrence, with Cary Barlog, Santa Monica Studio’s creative head, guiding the franchise’s long-term direction. In an extended interview released alongside the reveal, the two discussed how the idea of a Faye-led game first came to be and what it means for the series going forward, and it’s clear this is not a spin-off or a side story.
This is the next chapter.
From what the trailer showed, the team has committed to delivering on all the core pillars of God of War: intimate, brutal combat, rich world exploration, with intelligent maps, and story at its heart. What sets Laufey apart is its focus. We have a deep, personal look at the woman whose shadow shaped the entire Norse saga before players ever pressed start to look forward to.
Faye has always been a formidable warrior. Now, for the first time, she gets to prove it herself.
