The God of War TV Series is still a ways off, but one of the key players of both the God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök video games says he’d be open to continuing his work on that and other God of War projects.
Speaking exclusively with IGN during an interview about his work on the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, composer Bear McCreary said he isn’t completely done with the God of War franchise. I asked McCreary if he’d be interested in expanding his work into other media or if his time on God of War was done.
“I still feel that I am very proud of the work that I’ve done (with God of War),” McCreary replied. “And if there were an opportunity to expand upon it, I would be open to that.”
McCreary previously said that he felt his work on God of War was “complete,” but now seems open to revisiting the popular video game series in television form. The show is being developed by Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions to stream on Prime Video. The series, which is being helmed by Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore, will follow Kratos and Atreus as they travel to the highest peak in the nine realms of Norse mythology to spread the ashes of their late wife and mother.
For his part, McCreary said that his experience working on God of War was unique to the many other franchises he’s scored, which include Lord of the Rings, Halo, Star Wars, Marvel, Terminator, and the aforementioned Percy Jackson.
“The great thing about working on these God of War games (is) they are so expansive,” McCreary explained. “I don’t think I have written anything musically in the two games and DLC that hasn’t been discovered. If anything, I think the more you dig into it, what I hope is evident is how much the team and I (were) always working to just make it better.
“At the end of every one of these massive games, after I’ve played through it and all I want to do is sleep, I’m like, ‘Here’s what we should do next time.’”
McCreary added that working on video games is inherently different from producing music for TV or movies given the interactive nature of the storytelling. “We (were) always pushing the boundaries on God of War,” he said. “For example, in God War Ragnarök we decided to implement a ‘do no harm to melody’ rule. What that means is if (a player is) really doing well in a skirmish or an encounter, you start getting these character themes and it changes depending on who your partner is in the game.
“But let’s say it’s Kratos’s theme. If you win, normally there’d just be a big splash and it would stop. But in Ragnarök, there’s the big splash, everything else stops, but that melody completes itself. It sounds simple, but it took thousands of man hours from a half dozen people to be able to do that.”
Beyond God of War, McCreary’s love of gaming runs deep. So much so that he’s itching to write music for a rhythm game.
“I would love to do something like that,” McCreary said. “I’m always looking for interesting projects, interesting people to collaborate with. One of my favorite games from the last generation is Stray. I think I’ve played it through seven or eight times. And I’m very interested in (indie) and AA gaming. I think there’s a lot of experimentation that happens there. And I love the medium. I’m putting it out there.”
Stay tuned later this week for more from our interview with Bear McCreary.
Michael Peyton is the Senior Editorial Director of Events & Entertainment at IGN, leading entertainment content and coverage of tentpole events including IGN Live, San Diego Comic Con, gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He’s spent 20 years working in the games and entertainment industry, and his adventures have taken him everywhere from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Follow him on Bluesky @MichaelPeyton
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