Sony Santa Monica’s next God of War is shaping up to be the wildest entry yet. A first look at God of War: Laufey has surfaced, and it appears to back up parts of a leak that has been floating around for weeks.
The game puts Faye, Kratos’ late wife and Atreus’ mother, in the lead role. She’s dropped into a realm called Everywhen, described as an afterlife-style space where gods from different pantheons exist side by side.
Faye has been the emotional core of the Norse saga without ever really being on screen. She died before God of War 2018, and the entire journey with Kratos and Atreus started because of her final wish. Now she finally gets her own game.
The first look introduces a few figures fans weren’t expecting. Sekhmet, the Egyptian lioness-headed goddess of war, makes an appearance. So does Begtse, a wrathful Mongolian and Tibetan Buddhist war deity. Both are far from the usual Norse and Greek territory the franchise has stuck to.
The reveal also shows a strange cube-like object and a sword surrounded by blue, water-like imagery. Those two items are doing a lot of heavy lifting in the conversation.
The earlier leak reportedly mentioned more than what the first look showed. According to those claims, the cube is some kind of “gel cube” companion, possibly sentient and possibly tied to Merlin. The sword is described as a talking weapon also linked to Merlin.
The leak also suggests Týr could be a second playable protagonist. That one’s harder to square with the setting, since Týr is alive at the end of Ragnarök and Everywhen is meant for dead gods. Flashbacks, time jumps, or some form of astral projection from his prison cell are all on the table.
The Arthurian angle
Once you put Merlin, a magic sword, and a watery cube together, the Arthurian theories write themselves. The sword is being read as Excalibur or Caliburn, with the cube possibly representing the Lady of the Lake or even Merlin himself, trapped in crystal.
Then there’s the name. Laufey shortens to Faye, which sounds awfully close to le Fay, as in Morgan le Fay. Fans are speculating that Faye’s story could end with her becoming the Lady of the Lake or a version of Morgan le Fay, setting up a future God of War trip to Britain.
Santa Monica Studio has flirted with British and Shakespearean references before. Mimir calls himself a “goodfellow” in a likely Puck reference, and he name-drops Nimue in Ragnarök. The groundwork is there.
Plenty of this remains unconfirmed. Týr being playable, the sword being Excalibur, the cube being Merlin, Faye becoming Morgan le Fay, all rumor territory until Santa Monica Studio says otherwise.
What’s clear is that God of War: Laufey looks far more experimental than anything in the series so far, with Faye finally stepping out of the background and pulling Egyptian, Buddhist, and possibly Arthurian myth along with her.
