Cory Barlog has been receiving a lot of unhealthy attention lately, including some genuinely awful harassment surrounding a rumored release date announcement forGod of War Ragnarok. Plus, there’s the fact that he’s still hard at work onGod of War Ragnarok, too, since he’s the sequel’s producer. Even amid the stress, however, Barlog is still a fan of video games and is looking forward to future game releases like every other fan. His recent target of anticipation appears to be Bethesda’sStarfield.
In a post on Twitter, Barlog shared his immediate thoughts regarding Bethesda’s upcoming open-universe RPG. Barlog embraced his hype and told fans that he’s “so ****ing excited for Starfield.” He’s so excited that he’s even “taking time off when [Starfield] comes out.” Suffice to say, it’s safe to assume that Barlog is very excited forBethesda’s next major game release, regardless of whether it’s from a “competitor” or not.
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The post from Barlog was admittedly provoked, to a degree. Barlog didn’t make his post about beingexcited forStarfieldindependently, he was responding to another tweet. The original tweet shared a chart comparing the Google interest for the terms “God of War” and “Starfield.” While there’s already a bias toward “God of War,” since it’s a widely used term beyond just the game, the trends showedStarfieldfar below overall. Barlog must have seen how silly the tweet was and decided to disarm the console war sentiment.
That doesn’t mean that Barlog isn’t being sincere in what he’s saying, of course. After spending years working on thenewGod of Wargameand dealing with unending harassment, Barlog likely wants nothing more than to take a vacation and play someone else’s cool game. It will probably line up nicely with the post-launch ofGod of War Ragnarok, too, meaning it’s the first time Barlog may have the opportunity for a vacation in some time.
At the heart of the issue isn’t even a conversation about eitherGod of WarorStarfield, however. Barlog has spent more time than he wants addressing harassment and toxic fans recently. This response is another form of that, given the intent of the original tweet was tostoke PlayStation fans into mocking an Xbox game.
But while Barlog’s response may have been provoked by toxic fandom, it also encapsulates what healthy fandom looks like, too.Barlog is a fan of video games, obviously, and it doesn’t matter whether those games are made by his studio, another studio, or even his company’s largest competitor. It’s about loving games.
God of War Ragnarokreleases in 2022 for PS4 and PS5.
