Cory Barlog | |
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![]() Barlog in June 2019 | |
Born | September 2, 1975 |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2000–present |
Known for | God of War series |
Cory Barlog (born September 2, 1975) is an American video game designer, director, and writer who is the current creative director of video game development at Santa Monica Studio. He is best known for his work on the God of War series.
Barlog was born on September 2, 1975, [1] [2] the son of fantasy novelist J. M. Barlog. [3]
In his early career, Barlog worked as a lead animator at Paradox Development on Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home and X-Men: Next Dimension . After joining Santa Monica Studio, he was the lead animator for God of War (2005) and directed God of War II (2007), for which he won a BAFTA for his writing work on the game. He also served as game director of God of War III (2010) for the first eight months of its development. [4] Although not part of Sony at the time, he helped in writing God of War: Ghost of Sparta (2010).
Barlog was a keynote speaker at ECAROcon 2008, and later worked at LucasArts. In an interview, he announced that he was working on a tie-in video game for the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road . He was reported to be in Sweden to develop the title with Avalanche Studios, best known for Just Cause . Despite various gaming websites confirming that the game was in development over the coming years, Barlog had left Avalanche Studios early in its development and the game never materialized.
In March 2012, it was announced that Barlog had joined Crystal Dynamics to direct the cinematics for the new Tomb Raider game and direct an unannounced game. [5] [6] However, he left the company in April 2013. [7]
In August 2013, it was announced that Barlog would return to Santa Monica Studio. [8] He is the studio's creative director and directed God of War (2018). For the game, he won awards for Best Game Direction and Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2018, [9] Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction and Game of the Year at the 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, [10] and the BAFTA Games Award for Best Game. He also wrote the foreword to the novelization of the game, which was written by his father. He also produced the sequel God of War Ragnarök (2022). [11]
Year | Game | Role | Studio |
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1999 | Requiem: Avenging Angel | Artist | Cyclone Studios |
2000 | Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots Arena | Animator | Paradox Development |
2002 | X-Men: Next Dimension | Lead animator | Paradox Development |
2003 | Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home | Lead animator | Paradox Development |
2005 | God of War | Lead animator | Santa Monica Studio |
2007 | God of War II | Game director, story writer | Santa Monica Studio |
2008 | God of War: Chains of Olympus | Story writer | Santa Monica Studio |
2010 | God of War III | Initial design, story layout | Santa Monica Studio |
2010 | God of War: Ghost of Sparta | Story writer | Santa Monica Studio |
2013 | Tomb Raider | Cinematics director | Crystal Dynamics |
2018 | God of War | Game director, story writer | Santa Monica Studio |
2022 | God of War Ragnarök | Creative director, producer | Santa Monica Studio |
Christopher Judge is an American actor. He is best known for playing Teal'c in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, and for being the second actor to portray Kratos in the God of War video game series, playing the role in God of War (2018) and its sequel God of War Ragnarök (2022). He attended the University of Oregon on a football scholarship and was a Pacific-10 Conference player.
God of War is a 2005 action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). First released for the PlayStation 2 on March 22, 2005, the game is the first installment in the God of War series and the third chronologically. Loosely based on Greek mythology, it is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, a Spartan warrior who serves the Olympian gods. The goddess Athena tasks Kratos with killing Ares, the God of War and Kratos' former mentor who tricked Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. As Ares besieges Athens out of hatred for Athena, Kratos embarks on a quest to find the one object capable of stopping the god once and for all: Pandora's Box.
Santa Monica Studio is an American video game developer of Sony Interactive Entertainment based in Los Angeles. It is best known for developing the God of War series. The studio was founded in 1999 by Allan Becker and was located in Santa Monica, California, until relocating to Playa Vista in 2014.
Bear McCreary is an American composer of film, television, and video game scores. His work includes the scores of the television series Battlestar Galactica (2004), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Black Sails, Outlander, The Walking Dead, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Serpent Queen, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Halo, the video games Call of Duty: Vanguard, God of War and God of War Ragnarök, and the film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
God of War II is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). First released for the PlayStation 2 on March 13, 2007, the game is the second installment in the God of War series, the sixth chronologically, and the sequel to 2005's God of War. It is based on Greek mythology and set in ancient Greece, with vengeance as its central motif. The player character is protagonist Kratos, the new God of War who killed the former, Ares. Kratos is betrayed by Zeus, the King of the Olympian gods, who strips him of his godhood and kills him. Slowly dragged to the Underworld, he is saved by the Titan Gaia, who instructs him to find the Sisters of Fate, as they can allow him to travel back in time, avert his betrayal, and take revenge on Zeus.
Andy Park is a Korean-American comic book artist, illustrator, and concept artist.
God of War III is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. First released for the PlayStation 3 on March 16, 2010, it is the fifth installment in the God of War series, the seventh chronologically, and the sequel to 2007's God of War II. Loosely based on Greek mythology, the game is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, the former God of War, after his betrayal at the hands of Zeus, King of the Olympian gods, whom he learned was his father. Reigniting the Great War, Kratos ascends Mount Olympus until he is abandoned by the Titan Gaia. Guided by Athena's spirit, Kratos battles monsters, gods, and Titans in a search for Pandora, without whom he cannot open Pandora's Box, defeat Zeus, and end the reign of the Olympian gods to have his revenge.
Kratos is a character and the protagonist of Santa Monica Studio's video game series God of War, which is based on Greek mythology and, later, Norse mythology. Kratos first appeared in the 2005 video game God of War, which led to the development of eight more titles featuring the character as the protagonist. Kratos also appears as the protagonist of the comic book series God of War in 2010 and 2018, and in three novels that retell the events of three of the games. The character was voiced by Terrence C. Carson from 2005 to 2013, and by Christopher Judge, who took over the role, in the 2018 continuation, which is also titled God of War. Antony Del Rio voiced young Kratos in Ghost of Sparta.
God of War is an action-adventure game franchise created by David Jaffe and developed by Sony's Santa Monica Studio. It began in 2005 on the PlayStation 2 (PS2) video game console and has become a flagship series for PlayStation, consisting of nine installments across multiple platforms. Based on ancient mythologies, the series' plot follows Kratos, a Spartan warrior who becomes the God of War and comes into conflict with various mythological pantheons. The earlier games in the series are based on Greek mythology and see Kratos follow a path of vengeance against the Olympian gods; the later games are based on Norse mythology and see Kratos on a path of redemption while also introducing his son Atreus as a secondary protagonist, as they come into conflict or interact with various Norse deities and figures.
Stig Asmussen is an American video game developer best known for his work on the God of War series for Santa Monica Studio and the Star Wars Jedi series for Respawn Entertainment. Stig Asmussen founded his own new AAA video game development studio Giant Skull in 2023 September 9.
God of War: Ascension is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. Released in March 2013, it is the seventh installment in the God of War series and a prequel to the entire series. Loosely based on Greek mythology, it is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist, Kratos, the former servant of the God of War Ares, who tricked Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. In response to this tragedy, Kratos renounced Ares, breaking his blood oath to the god. Kratos was, therefore, imprisoned and tortured by the three Furies, guardians of honor and enforcers of punishment. Helped by the oath keeper, Orkos, Kratos escapes his imprisonment and confronts the Furies, aiming to free himself of his bond to Ares.
Mad Max is a 2015 action-adventure video game developed by Avalanche Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the Mad Max franchise, the game follows Max Rockatansky as he progresses through the wasteland building a vehicle, the Magnum Opus, to battle against a gang of hostile raiders led by Scabrous Scrotus and reach the storied "Plains of Silence", where he hopes to find peace. Mad Max emphasizes vehicular combat, in which players can use weapon and armor upgrades on their car to fight enemies. It is set in an open post-apocalyptic wasteland consisting of deserts, canyons, and caves.
Marianne Krawczyk is a screenwriter and video game writer. She wrote the screenplay for Appleseed Alpha (2014), based on the manga by Masamune Shirow and directed by Shinji Aramaki. Krawczyk is best known for writing the installments of the God of War video game franchise, from its start in 2005, until 2015. She won a BAFTA Game Award for Best Story and Character for her work on God of War II (2007).
God of War is a 2018 action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game was released worldwide for the PlayStation 4 in April 2018, with a Windows port released in January 2022. It is the eighth installment in the God of War series, the eighth chronologically, and the sequel to 2010's God of War III.
Sunny Suljic is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Bob in Yorgos Lanthimos's 2017 drama The Killing of a Sacred Deer and as the voice and motion capture actor for Atreus, the son of Kratos, in the 2018 video game God of War, for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Performance in a Video Game and the D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character. He reprised the role in the game's 2022 sequel, God of War Ragnarök, for which he was nominated for Best Performance at The Game Awards 2022, the BAFTA Award for Performer in a Leading Role, and the D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character. In 2018, Suljic had his first lead role in Jonah Hill's film Mid90s, for which he received a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer nomination.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a 2018 action-adventure game developed by Eidos-Montréal and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. The game is the sequel to Rise of the Tomb Raider and is the twelfth mainline entry in the Tomb Raider series, as well as the third and final entry of the Survivor trilogy. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in September 2018. Versions for Linux and macOS, and Stadia, were released in November 2019. After release, the game was expanded upon with downloadable content in both a season pass and as standalone releases.
Timothy Cubbison is an American producer, director, writer and casting director, including for the video games Fallout 4, Life Is Strange and Rise of the Tomb Raider, and as the founder of the voice recording studio Horseless Cowboy.
Martin Stig Andersen is a Danish composer and sound designer, best known for his work on the video games Limbo and Inside, as well as contributions to Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
God of War Ragnarök is a 2022 action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released worldwide on November 9, 2022, for both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, marking the first cross-generation release in the God of War series, and was released for Windows on September 19, 2024. It is the ninth installment in the series, the ninth chronologically, and the sequel to 2018's God of War. Loosely based on Norse mythology, the game is set in ancient Scandinavia and features series protagonist, Kratos, and his now teenage son, Atreus. Concluding the Norse era of the series, the story follows Kratos and Atreus' efforts to prevent the nine realms from being destroyed by Ragnarök, the eschatological event which is central to Norse mythology and was foretold to happen in the previous game after Kratos killed the Aesir god Baldur.
The British Academy Video Games Award for Narrative is an award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It is given to recognize "excellence in the creation and delivery of the best story or narrative that captivates and engages the player". The award is given to the writers/development team, the developer and the publisher of the winning game. The award was first presented at the 3rd British Academy Games Awards under the name Screenplay. The following year it was renamed into Story and Character. From the 6th edition to the 12th, it was presented as Story. Since the 13th British Academy Games Awards, it has been presented with its current name.