God Of War Won't Have Microtransactions, Says Director

Given how prevalent microtransactions have become in modern game releases, it isn't surprising to see more and more developers and publishers inserting them into their titles. A screenshot of the upcoming God of War for PS4 showing what appeared to be some kind of currency led some fans to speculate that it too will incorporate microtransactions. However, that doesn't appear to be the case according to game director Cory Barlog.

On Twitter, one fan asked Barlog if God of War would feature any kind of microtransactions. Barlog emphatically tweeted, "No freakin way!!!" in response. GameSpot reached out to Sony to get further clarification on if God of War would have any kind of premium in-game currency that can be bought with real-world money; the publisher replied with a statement from Barlog that read, "No. Not even a little."

God of War is one of the biggest PS4 exclusives of 2018. It's the first installment in the series since 2013's God of War: Ascension and strikes a markedly different tone than its predecessors, drawing inspiration from Norse mythology (rather than Greek) and revolving around the story of Kratos and his son, Atreus. It's also going to be much longer than previous God of War games, estimated to take 25-35 hours to complete.

God of War launches exclusively for PS4 on April 20. That same day, Sony is releasing a limited-edition God of War-themed PS4 Pro bundle. The bundle includes a 1 TB silver-and-grey PS4 Pro that's adorned with runes and the skill tree for Kratos's new Leviathan Axe from the new game. It also comes with a matching DualShock 4 controller and a physical copy of God of War with unspecified "digital content."