God of War Ragnarök
Client: PlayStation
PlayStation came to us during an interesting time in the God of War franchise’s history. They were in the process of developing a sequel to God of War 2018 - a game that had introduced some pretty big changes to the narrative and overall experience. That sequel, God of War Ragnarök, would continue the changes introduced in God of War 2018. We were tasked with developing a full 360-campaign to launch this new game. But with so many changes having happened to the franchise, we quickly realized we also needed to help them evolve their overall brand to reflect this new chapter.
Understanding the brand
God of War is an incredibly successful video game franchise. The first game in the series, released in 2005, introduced the world to a Spartan warrior and demigod named Kratos. Kratos was tricked into killing his wife and daughter by his former master, the original Greek God of War Ares. This sets off an epic quest for revenge in which Kratos ultimately kills Ares (and many others in the process). The game was massively successful, ultimately setting the stage for a number of sequels that continued Kratos’ story…and also his thirst for carnage.
In the 5 games that followed the original God of War, Kratos’ motivations remained largely unchanged. He was hellbent on revenge, living only to destroy the gods and goddesses that wronged him. And the ways in which he destroyed them were incredibly brutal. Kratos literally stomped on the sun god’s neck multiple times before yanking his head straight off his shoulders. He poked the god of sea’s eyes out with his thumbs before throwing him off a cliff. In fact, there’s so many of these brutal moments that you can find entire lists dedicated to ranking them.
The 7th game - God of War 2018 - broke the mold when players were introduced to Kratos’ son Atreus. Born to Kratos and his second wife Faye sometime after the events of God of War III, the addition of Atreus fueled a more emotional storyline as players saw Kratos’ role shift from a bloodthirsty warrior to more of a mentor and protector to Atreus. And God of War Ragnarök would continue that story of father and son.
The Research
Historically, the brutal style of action was a key differentiator and a key draw.
The original God of War was described by CNN as “one of the most violent on the market”. Gamespot said God of War II “gives you plenty to kill and makes it plenty fun to do so.” And Game Informer described God of War III by saying “words like ‘visceral’ and ‘brutal’ yield the fullness of their meaning.”
For newer audiences, this brutality was a major barrier.
Even after the introduction of Atreus, God of War’s reputation was still very much centered around brutal violence and hack-and-slash combat - ultimately causing many potential players to reject the franchise in favor of games they considered to be more sophisticated or complex.
Kratos is still a brutally efficient murderer. But as a father, his actions have more consequences.
Up until God of War 2018, Kratos had nothing to lose - and his particularly violent actions reflected that. After Atreus the violence never stopped, but now it was in the name of protection. It was equally intense, but that intensity was because Kratos had everything to lose.
Those consequences make the action more compelling overall.
Research has found that while player recall for action trumps narrative, action sequences that are integrated into a compelling narrative are more satisfying to players.
The Insight: Action is memorable, but it’s the context that makes it compelling.
In this post-Atreus era, what separates God of War from other franchises is the way action and emotion work together. The emotional storytelling offers meaning and purpose to the violence.
The Strategy: Help players see not just the fight, but what they’ll be fighting for.
THE creative Concept: fight for family
Creating a 360-campaign
Leveraging the brand strategy, we worked with PlayStation to create a full 360-campaign including a TV spot, social posts, partnerships, packaging, and more — all helping players get a little more familiar with the motivations driving Kratos and Atreus to fight in Ragnarök.
In order to ensure the campaign felt authentic to God of War’s past while still reflecting the brand’s future, we worked to strike a balance between combat and emotion, ultimately leveraging different assets with different approaches to show not just the fight, but also the family (blood and chosen) that Kratos and Atreus would be fighting for in Ragnarök.
Teammates: Jefferson Liu (Group Creative Director), Ed Davis (Client Partner), Kristian Almgren (Account Director), Wanda Szarek (Producer), Carolyn Pierce Tate (Producer), Emily Pearson (Producer), Camilo Sanz (Art Director), TJ Carricato (Copywriter), and many more