Job Listing Hints At God of War Multiplayer

We don’t traditionally like to stir rumors from job listings because they really don’t tell us anything. That said, a listing recently popped up on Gamasutra that caught our eye and we believe it’s worth mentioning. The job comes from SCEA’s Santa Monica studio (the developer behind God of War) and it’s asking for a Senior Online Programmer.

The requirements and expectations are pretty basic but the one that stands out requests the ability to “design and implement systems and tools to support networking needs (such as in-game communication, client-server, match-making, leaderboards) “.

This could be nothing and we’re not even sure Santa Monica’s next project will be God of War related, although at the top of the listing it specifically says “Join the God of War Team!” Still, nothing more than wild speculation on my part so don’t get too excited.

Source: Gamasutra

19 Comments

  1. baggsy Kratos

    • seriously though, this sounds good i will be very happy if a new GoW is being developed.

  2. Wow, another series trying to shoe horn in multiplayer, coz there aren’t enough of those around!

    • Ey, come on man, give it a chance, it might turn out to be really special. Failing that the Campaign will be sick and it will still only cost £39.99 day onem so its a win win :-)

      • I dislike the constant need to reform to popularity, it might work, but is it really necessary for the series, that is the question. With talk of multiplayer in games like Silent Hill and Tomb Raider where a main feature is soletary exploration, you have to wonder how far it will all go. A series cannot be true to itself anymore, it has to dumb itself down for sales. It’s a shame but it’s true.

      • I dunno, I see it as a game which wants to develop, reach new audiences, offer more in way of depth and ways to play. I mean imagine hitting a God of War 4 Co op with Kratos and Demios [sorry if spelt wrong] and tackling those opponents which were twice as big, twice as strong and twice as difficult to defeat.

        Imagine and online battleground, reminiscent of a Roman Gladiator Battleground, think Gladiator meets God of War.

        Imagine being able to maybe enter tournaments which would offer unloackables, online spectator mode where you offer thumbs up or thumbs down, you know like a survival/tournament mode.

        This could be a real rich ‘tacked on’ online side to an already EPIC game series. I hear what you are saying but if it is done for the right reasons with the right talent, it could be a case of putting the unreachable bar even higher for Santa Monica Studios who are really the only ones who can reach the bar!

      • I agree but why does a game have to develop in the same way as the rest? For sales, in this day and age if you don’t have some online multiplayer or co-op element devs fear people won’t buy their game.

        I’m all for development, multiplayer and co-op if they’re done for the right reason, but unfortunately with the majority of long standing series lately they aren’t.

        Take again the example of Silent Hill, for the next game Konami wanted online co-op. Vatra didn’t in the end they got their way, but why did Konami want it? Because it is popular, not because it is right for the series. Crystal Dynamics are an example of how to do things right. To include multiplayer in a Tomb Raider-ish world, they left the pillar series and created the Lara Croft and… series specifically for the muliplayer/Co-Op aspect. But trying to put it in just because isn’t the right thing to do.

      • it depends if its in the age of myth from many stories from the Greek and Norse myths then it can be very special. Unless its God of War 4 which would be strange if Gow 3 is the last I believe.

        I hope its a new IP, a game were you could fight in a battlefield fought by thousands of men & monsters. With online it could be so good.

        It can be done just look at Spartan: Total Warrior, it may not been as great but to me it was so exciting but I only wish that it was so much longer.

  3. They’ve been looking for an online programmer since February 2009.

    http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2009/02/03/god-of-war-iii-online/

    Must be hard to come by? :p

  4. If this is for GoW, I think they really ought to test the water with local multiplayer first. I guess the levelling up is already there but I’m sceptical, I’d be happy to be proven wrong though, I’m warming more and more to online multiplayer.

  5. I figured a site like thesixthaxis would already know this, but Santa Monica doesn’t exclusively work on God of War. In fact, the first title they worked on for the PS3 was a litle online only game, you know, Warhawk. Yeah, they helped co-develop that, though Incognito did most of it.

    Lightbox Interactive, which in essense is Incognito, is working on a new Warhawk like game and are working with Santa Monica again, hence why they are looking for an online programmer and why they were since early 2009 (which is when we first started hearing rumors of Starhawk). Just thought I’d clear that up, no God of War multiplayer folks.

    • There’s very little doubt in my mind that you’re right. It was the “Join the God of War Team!” that caught my eye. But as I said, it’s probably nothing.

      • Of course, “God Of War Team” meaning Sony Santa Monica. It’s not that they are working on an new God Of War, but they are the team that developed the game.

  6. GoW multiplayer? – Kratos will be beside himself when he finds out!

  7. KJoin the God of War team could just be to join the team that made GoW and nothing to do with a new game

  8. Could this be Twisted Metal related?

    • Thats by Eat, Sleep, Play, but theres still a chance if they will be involved somehow. heh

    • Well I brought up Lightbox Interactive who are working with Santa Monica and like they did when they were Incognito. And considerig Eat, Sleep, Play also comes from many people who used to be apart of Incognito, it would not surprise me if Santa Monica is also working with them.

  9. Must be like a online multiplayer game but instead of being the modern day Russia, it will be in a war of mythvology.

    I hope they do that

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