God of War II Director Returns to Sony Santa Monica, Plans to "Rock The Free World"

God of War is one of the biggest franchises in PlayStation’s stable. Kratos has dominated sales charts on the PlayStation 2 with God of War and God of War II, the PSP with God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and the PlayStation 3 with God of War III and God of War: Ascension. The team at Sony Santa Monica has created a juggernaut both in terms of gameplay and mass market popularity, a feat made more impressive by the fact that each iteration of the series has been directed by someone different. Whether it’s series creator David Jaffe, Ready at Dawn co-founder Ru Weerasuriya, or art director Stig Asmussen, each person at the helm of the seminal Sony series has brought a new and personal take on the Spartan warrior’s tale. Now, one of those directors is back at Santa Monica and ready to astound the PlayStation faithful once again.

Cory Barlog announced on Friday via the PlayStation Blog his return to the Sony Santa Monica, and will be working on an all new project that is, in his words, “freaking huge.” Barlog returns to the Southern California studio after leaving the company in 2007 just a few months into the development of God of War III. In his time away from Sony, Barlog worked with Avalanche on their Mad Max game–recently announced at Sony’s E3 press conference–and with the Crystal Dynamics on this year’s Tomb Raider as lead cinematics director.

Barlog would not discuss in his blog post just what he would be working on, or who else was already on his team. He did, however, say that he was putting together “an Ocean’s 11 kind of thing,” and that he would use his “newly honed powers of awesome to create something that will rock the free world.” Barlog isn’t the only former God of War director with a project in development at Sony Santa Monica, with God of War III director Stig Asmussen still with the studio and not involved in the development of God of War: Ascension or the SMS-supported, Ready At Dawn-developed The Order: 1886.

The return of Barlog is sure to excite fans of the God of War franchise, and we’ll keep you informed when news of his team’s project surfaces.