God of War is coming to PC in January

After nearly a full year of speculation and hope, God of War, Sony's tale of Olympian demi-gods, Nordic deities, and the trials and tribulations fatherhood, is now listed on Steam.

"We’re thrilled to announce that God of War (2018) will be coming to PC on January 14, 2022!" Sony Santa Monica Studio senior community manager Grace Orlady wrote. "All of us at Santa Monica Studio have been humbled by the immense amount of support and passions fans of the God of War series have shown in the latest chapter of Kratos’ story since its release. As of August 2021, 19.5MM copies for God of War on PlayStation 4 have been sold through and we can’t wait to share that experience with a whole new group of players on PC."

Make no mistake, this is a very big deal. Sony has previously expressed interest in bringing more of its first-party games to PC, and has recently committed to some big ones including big names like Horizon Zero Dawn and Uncharted 4. But God of War is not just another PlayStation game—it's a capital-P "Prestige" title that's won numerous acclaim and awards for both its axe-swinging action and its effective portrayal of fatherhood and family. It recently claimed IGN's big "Best Videogame of All Time" poll, and GamesRadar put a very fine point on it with a glowing 5/5 review, saying, "I don't think it's possible to overstate just how good this is."

The PC version of God of War promises a range of enhancements including "high fidelity graphics," with support for 4K resolutions, ultrawide displays, unlocked framerates, and advanced settings including higher resolution shadows, "improved" screen space reflections, and support for GTAO and SSDO. Nvidia DLSS support will also be available at launch to help with framerates. Controllers and fully customizable mouse-and-keyboard setups will be supported.

The PC release will also come with some bonus digital content:

  • Death’s Vow Armor Sets for Kratos and Atreus   
  • Exile’s Guardian Shield Skin   
  • Buckler of the Forge Shield Skin   
  • Shining Elven Soul Shield Skin   
  • Dökkenshieldr Shield Skin

There are no system requirements yet, but the game itself is still a little ways off: God of War is available for pre-purchase now for $50/£40/€50, but won't release until January 14, 2022. A sequel, God of War: Ragnarok, is also set to arrive in 2022 on the PlayStation 5—perhaps this means we'll see it coming our way sooner rather than later, too.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.