God of War: Ascension is out in North America today! It represents the culmination of two and a half years of blood, sweat, and tears on behalf of the God of War team at Santa Monica Studio.

We wanted to create the best looking, best playing, most compelling entry in the series to date, a game that took every aspect of the experience to a new level, that sought to show long-time fans a different side of the iconic Kratos character, and that added something entirely new yet addictively deep to the franchise: multiplayer, which many of you joined us in playing and improving during our Beta weeks ago.

We put a great deal of thought and effort into the multiplayer modes you’ll discover in Ascension, including the recently revealed 2-player cooperative Trial of the Gods. Supporting this new addition to the God of War universe and the community we’re hopeful builds around it for a while to come is of the utmost importance to us.

To that end, we can today confirm a substantial DLC plan, among which will be new armor and weapons sets, new stages to battle in, and much more. All of this will be free for owners of the Ascension Collector’s Edition, since it includes a comprehensive Season Pass (which will not be available outside of the CE).

We’ll have plenty more info in the coming weeks at our official site, www.godofwar.com, as we execute on our extensive schedule… Stay tuned!

Ascension’s multiplayer mode, a series first, is about to go live for players around the world. Finally, we’re excited to reveal the fourth, and last, of the Gods with whom you may ally yourself: Hades.

Of all of the allegiances, Hades’ executioners have the highest versatility and variety of abilities. With the ability to curse, drain life, become invisible, and create large hazards (all in one load-out), the followers of Hades are able to control the flow of battle. Hades is neither the strongest offensively nor defensively, but careful tailoring through armors and weapons, based on the situation to subsidize this, will help push you towards whatever role you want to fill — you will be able to do it all.

It’s been a long journey since 2010. We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the game, and meet on the battlefield online.

Champions! We wait to Ascend.

The studio floor is empty and silent. The team that once buzzed with the energy and fervor is now quiet. Full. Satisfied. The countless souls that once labored deep into the night have been dramatically refreshed with sleep… lots and lots of sleep. You see, the Gods have demanded our creation and now there is little we can do but wait. We must abide together until it is unleashed upon the world on March 12.

But waiting is so hard.

What would you give for a glimpse into the future? For a taste of Satyr blood? To unchain Kratos before the world is ready? Would you swear a blood oath to Olympus? Forge a bond with the Gods?

It is a tempting offer…no? Behold the spoils in return for your bond!

We’re thrilled to unleash our God of War: Ascension single-player demo to ALL PlayStation Network users later today. Become Kratos and escape the epic Prison of the Damned. God of War: Ascension’s demo will allow players to explore and master the legendary Spartan’s new advanced combat.

Make your stand against a Titanic beast and its infected legions.
Unleash your Rage in fiery explosions that burn your enemies to ash.
Impale enemies on your chained blades and use them in combat as living wrecking balls.
Wield the weapons of your enemies in countless new combos.
Climb and slide your way through the chaos as the world turns upside down around you.

Want a closer, behind the scenes look at the enhancements and additions you can expect from Ascension’s gameplay? Check out this new entry in our “Unchained” series of videos:

After you’ve played through our demo, or in-between multiple plays, be sure to check out our exclusive section for History’s upcoming scripted original series, Vikings. We’ve packed in some custom video content and an inside look at this exciting new show, which premieres Sunday, March 3 at 10/9c on History.

I also wanted to remind you to check out a legendary Multiplayer DLC weapon we created in partnership with History, inspired by the series Vikings. The legendary “Mjolnir,” or Hammer of Thor, will be included exclusively with all copies of God of War: Ascension purchased at Best Buy. Forged in the fires of Asgard and tempered in glacial ice, Mjolnir will obliterate your enemies with its thunderous might.

The Multiplayer DLC weapon “Mjolnir” Hammer of Thor is a special limited-time offer available only at Best Buy when you purchase God of War: Ascension. Every copy will include a voucher to download the DLC weapon “Mjolnir,” as well as unlock our Mythological Heroes Pack which includes unique armor sets of ancient Greece’s greatest mythological heroes: Achilles, Perseus, Orion and Odysseus.

Becoming a Champion of the Gods in our new God of War: Ascension multiplayer mode requires a Warrior’s knowledge of the strengths, weapons, armor, and magic of the God they align with, knowing the depths of your strategic options, and executing them on the battlefield. Don’t expect to just hack and slash your opponents.

You’ve had a taste of what the Warriors of Zeus are capable of, but now it’s time to divert your attention, and consider aligning with the God of War himself.

If sheer offensive strength is your preferred style of play, harness the ferocious might of Ares! We debuted his trailer last night on SPIKE TV, if you missed it, then don’t miss it now.

Warriors who align with Ares are brute force tacticians dealing a devastating array of up close attacks. These Warriors will also harness magic abilities that unleash a fiery rage, great for close quarters combat. Warriors of Ares are juggernauts who excel in close-range combat and employ powerful items that can boost their attacks, or cripple the defensive capabilities of surrounding enemies. In other words, if you like “jumping into the fire,” then aligning with Ares should be your first step.

In God of War: Ascension’s Multiplayer, it’s crucial to combine the right weapons, armor, magic, and items bestowed from the God you align with, to find your best strategic play style.

Here are a couple key strategic tips for Ares’ warriors to refer back to during our upcoming Beta:

• Find two or more enemies in a concentrated area. Use Ares’ inferno magic to leap sky-high and slam down with [R2] to knock them into the air. The moment you land, wield your weapon immediately with a series of brutal combo attacks on your enemies while they are stunned to earn a quick victory.
• Ares’ War Hammer is great against groups of enemies as well. The weapon’s special attack executes a long range wave of fire that will knock back every enemy in its path, and also has an area of effect slam to knock everyone nearby up into the air. A great tactic is combining these two attacks for some wicked air juggle combos.

Finally, the more XP you earn in Multiplayer, the more opportunity you will have to purchase and upgrade powerful Relics. Relics will enhance your weapons and armor, and generally improve (and reward!) your mastery over close-quarters combat. Replenish your health after a successful throw, or increase your damage after every brutal kill. Choose Relics that reward your style of play to become a true warrior of Ares.

It’s been a little over a month now since we announced the God of War: Ascension Beta and we know you’ve been anxiously awaiting news on when you’re going to get a chance to slash, disembowel, and crush your way into the pantheon of Olympus…

The God of War: Ascension Multiplayer Beta is coming to PlayStation Plus this winter. Keep reading to find out the only other way to get in, and how to get in early.

Some of our fans have already had the chance to play the Desert level of our new multiplayer mode at E3, Gamescom, and PAX. However, the multiplayer action has come a long way since then and this winter, Plus subscribers get to go hands-on with all-new multiplayer action that we haven’t yet shown. If you’ve been following the Ascension news thus far, you know that in God of War Multiplayer, each warrior will align themselves with one of four Gods. Each God will grant a different set of unlockable powers, armor sets, and abilities, which leads to a unique style of play for each God “class.” The first God you’ll be able to align with in the Beta will be the almighty Zeus, so to help you get ready, we have a new trailer to give you a primer on Zeus and his powers. Enjoy!

Want to learn more about Zeus? Then jump over to the brand-new GodofWar.com which just launched today to discover even more about the king of the Gods! Also, our new website is fully iOS and Android compatible, so check it out on your phone or tablet too!

Info about Ascension, the God of War series, and Kratos isn’t the only thing you’ll find on the new GodofWar.com though. You’ll also find the only way to get into the Beta if you’re not already a PlayStation Plus subscriber, and the only way to get into the Beta at least a week before everyone else: The Rise of the Warrior.

The Rise of the Warrior is a new social experience on GodofWar.com. You’ll live out your warrior’s journey in an epic new graphic-novel style story. You will embark on a quest for redemption that leads you toward becoming the next Champion of the Gods.

It gives you the opportunity to align with either the Spartans or the Trojans and compete via a number of social challenges to earn your army a week of exclusive early access to the Beta this winter, and 30 days of PlayStation Plus. And that’s just the first of multiple major army rewards between now and March! If an epic new God of War story and early Beta access aren’t enough for you – you’ll also be able to earn early in-game unlocks for God of War: Ascension multiplayer to get a head-start on the competition, along with exclusive multiplayer weapons and armor for everyone who rises to Champion of the Gods! So get over to GodofWar.com and start your journey in Rise of the Warrior.

Start getting pumped everyone, we’ve got much, much more God of War: Ascension content coming between now and March 12th, so stay tuned! Remember to follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook, and if you haven’t already, pre-order today!

And if you pre-order either the Collector’s Edition or the Standard Edition today, you’ll receive the incredibly badass Mythological Heroes Multiplayer Pack below, so you can play as your favorite Greek hero in Multiplayer!

We just wanted to share that little tidbit for you to tide you over until next week. Hopefully it helps you make your decision on God of War: Ascension, so head over to pre-order here. We’ve got something big coming on October 15th, so be sure to come back and check the PlayStation Blog Monday afternoon and see what it is.

Back on April 30th, I gave you an in-depth look at how our new multiplayer-mode works, combining the visceral combat and brutal finishing kills from single-player with an intense and fresh online 4v4 competitive mode. I’m excited to announce today that we will be launching a global multiplayer beta in the near future, available exclusively first to PlayStation Plus subscribers (there may a few other secret inroads). It’s critical to our team that we receive as much community feedback to tune and prime our multiplayer mode for one of the best experiences possible, come launch this March.

Here’s a brand-new multiplayer trailer to whet your appetite, this is what God of War: Ascension multiplayer is all about:

Where and how you begin as a Warrior in God of War: Ascension multiplayer is a mystery you’ll discover at launch, there is a story to “you,” notwithstanding, your first decision will be to pledge your allegiance to one of 4 familiar Gods: Zeus, Hades, Ares and Poseidon. Each God will offer a unique combat play-style and devastating abilities in battle. You’ll unlock special magic abilities, new and upgraded armors and weapons, mystical relics and other treasures as you earn XP to level up your Warrior.

While each will have an incredible array of combat maneuvers, the “attack-style” of the God you align with is critical to your Warriors “path.”

Our Warrior customization and XP system is going to keep you serving your God for centuries to come. It is your goal to become a true God of War, a Champion of the Gods. When you head into battle with friends and foes, you will have teammates aligned to all of the Gods, not only balancing out the strengths of each team, but creating a mythical and diverse combat war in every match.

In our signature multiplayer mode, Favor of the Gods, the first team to accumulate a target amount of “points” will claim victory (at E3 this was set to 5,000). Points, known as “Favor,” are earned by kills and other methods. When you’re not in the middle of destroying your enemies with brutal elegance, you can also help your team earn points by capturing altars, collecting red orbs from chests, and setting deadly traps for opposing players. Every multiplayer level is also littered with power-ups that will give you a quick edge in battle with special abilities, such as the power of Hermes Boots to boost your speed, and many more.

Finally, we’ve always believed God of War is about “epic larger than life moments,” and our multiplayer mode will fulfill that in a variety of ways. In our first map reveal, you’ve witnessed the awe-shocking terror of “Polyphemus,” a skyscraper sized giant Titan who wants to squash you to a pulp. When a team has earned a certain threshold of “favor points,” the Gods will drop down the Spear of Olympus; the only weapon known to man that can destroy Polyphemus. The first team to acquire this weapon and destroy the Titan may win the match, or turn the tide of the battle.

Each of our unique multiplayer maps and gameplay modes will have a variety of objectives and interactive multi-leveled environments. We’ll be sharing more details as we get closer to our March 12, 2013 release.

If you’re going to be in Germany at Gamescom this week, you’ll be among the first in the world to get hands on with our new multiplayer mode. It doesn’t stop there, you will also get the very first hands-on with our single player demo as well, and lay waste to The Elephantaur with your own hands.

For those of you stateside, we will also be bringing God of War: Ascension to PAX at the end of this month. We’re also proud to announce we will be doing the first-ever God of War Panel at PAX as well. Watch for more details on our PAX panel discussion and booth presence in the coming weeks.

So, how will you prepare for God of War: Ascension coming this March 12, 2013? There’s only one way right now – reliving Kratos’ epic journey step by step, every earth-shattering larger than life moment, every treacherous God destroyed on his quest for revenge and redemption, in the God of War: Saga Collection, coming this August 28th for just $39.99.

The Blades of Chaos will reign a blistering and heart-pounding fury in glorious high-definition as the God of War: Saga includes every God of War game and a PlayStation Plus 1-month voucher, perfect for getting into the God of War: Ascension MP beta when it hits PSN later this year.

Our dedicated team here at Sony Santa Monica is working harder than Kratos’ path to vengeance to make Ascension the biggest and most ambitious God of War game ever, and your passion for the world of God of War fuels us daily. Follow and give me a shout at @ToddPapy or @SonySantaMonica. You should like and check out our brand new God of War Facebook page for the latest and greatest news about the game, our awesome Collector’s Edition, and Mythological Heroes Multiplayer Pack pre-order DLC. Watch our Facebook page for news in the near future about how you can get early access to the multiplayer beta and more.

Now, back to the Pantheon…

Check out all the news coming out of Gamescom 2012 on PlayStation.Blog

Media Molecule’s New Project Revealed: Tearaway for PS Vita

See the First Trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified on PS Vita

PlayStation All-Stars Gamescom Reveal: Dante, Sackboy, Spike, Ratchet and Clank

Gamescom: New The Last of Us Trailer

Watch the GamesCom Trailer for Killzone: Mercenary

PSone Classics Coming to PS Vita via the latest System Software Update (v1.80)

Until Dawn — New PS Move Horror Game — Announced for PS3

The Curtain is Raised on Puppeteer, a New PS3 Adventure

PlayStation Plus Coming to PS Vita, Online Game Save Storage Getting Upgraded

In the single-player demo we showed off some of our new gameplay mechanics and combat systems. We’ve evolved our combat system to be more immersive and powerful than ever with a new tether system allowing you to sling enemies around as a wrecking ball, while maintaining a blade attack at the same time, in the air and the ground. Our new world weapon system also allows Kratos to steal enemies’ weapons to use against them. Now you can now easily switch back and forth between the blades and sub-weapons mid combo.

Also, if you watched the demo closely, you’ll notice that we’ve replaced some of our QTE mini-game button prompts with a new prompt-less free-form system. While in the mini-game, you’ll need to focus when to attack or dodge based off of the enemies actions, instead of an indicated button prompt.

We also showcased our new Life Cycle mechanic. Kratos can use this new ability to control the flow of time on various objects in the environments to solve puzzles, and freeze enemies during combat. Watch the demo for a better illustration of this.

For those of you with 3D-compatible TVs, you’ll be able to feel up close and brutally personal with Kratos as God of War: Ascension is going with 3D. We are creating the game in an intelligent way for 3D and not just a converted experience.

You’ve heard us mention time and time again that single-player is the heart and soul of the God of War franchise. While we are excited to deliver a kick-ass multiplayer experience no one has ever seen before, we are devoting more time, effort and resources than ever into the single-player experience to ensure we exceed everyone’s expectations. Our team is committed to delivering yet another epic God of War experience to you.

If you’re going to be amidst the E3 craziness, don’t leave the LA Convention Center without stopping by the Sony booth to check out God of War: Ascension. This will be the first time that anyone, press or otherwise, will be getting their hands on our multiplayer game. We’re pumped to get people’s first impressions and feedback.

If you want to catch a glimpse of God of War: Ascension throughout the week of E3, you can start by tune into SPIKE tonight at 8:00pm Pacific Time for an interview and peek at what fans can look forward to getting their hands on at the PlayStation booth. We will also be kicking off G4’s live E3 coverage on Tuesday at 1:00pm , and will be appearing in various LIVE shows on IGN, GameSpot, Machinima, the PlayStation.Blog, and of course collating every bit of God of War news at www.godofwar.com, throughout the week. We’ll have some more details to spill, so be sure to tune in and follow us.

Last time around for God of War III, our Ultimate Collector’s Edition took our fans by storm, so we are pleased to announce a truly special Collector’s Edition again for God of War: Ascension. We know you’ve been asking for the ultimate collectible, a Kratos statue, that will be the prized 8” centerpiece of this edition. The CE is also jam-packed in a premium steel book game case, with the official game soundtrack (digital version), a PS3 dynamic theme and PSN avatar pack, double XP points for multiplayer (more on that later), and a DLC pass to unlock all future DLC releases at no additional cost. The team is working hard on a dedicated post-launch multiplayer experience, XP and DLC are going to be treasures you will want. Get started with the Collector’s Edition. You’ll be able to pick up the Collector’s Edition for just $79.99 on March 12 next year. We’ll have more information and pictures of the content in the near future, so hang tight.

The Collector’s Edition will be limited, so make sure you pre-order it early. We would hate for you to miss out on it! For pre-ordering either the standard or Collector’s Edition, you’ll be able to pick up our Mythological Heroes Multiplayer DLC Pack as well. This is a universal pre-order item, so you can pre-order at any participating retailer and get the DLC pack.

We’ve got a long E3 week ahead of us, but we always love reading what our fans worldwide have to say. Your passion is incomparable! We’re stoked to hear your feedback and comments, or just flat out excitement. Follow and tweet to me @ToddPapy or @SonySantaMonica for all the latest, and definitely hit up our website. The countdown to March 12th begins now!

Like us over on Facebook to stay up to date with the latest GOW news and community updates or join us at www.godofwar.com.

But wait, there’s more! During our live broadcast, I’ll be sharing the scoop with Jeff, and of course all of you, about our brutal new multiplayer mode. Yes, that’s right. God of War: Ascension will feature a ground-breaking new online multiplayer mode. We wouldn’t do multiplayer in God of War unless we knew we could do it right. That’s why I’m extremely excited to finally be able to talk publicly about it and share all the gory details with you live. I even have some exclusive gameplay footage to share with you, so be sure to tune in to see it all live.

And if you missed our announcement on the 19th, be sure to check out the announce trailer and initial game details here before the show starts. Stay tuned because we go live at 8 AM Pacific!

Let us know what you’re looking forward to most in God of War: Ascension, and what you think of the new multiplayer mode!

I’m sure your mouth is watering for more, but unfortunately I have to leave you with that for now. Be sure to tune in to PlayStation.Blog and God of War: Ascension on Facebook on Monday, April 30th at 8am Pacific Time for a live streaming event that will give you a glimpse of what’s in store for God of War: Ascension. I’ll also be answering your questions about the game, so follow @PlayStation on Twitter and Tweet us your best questions by 3pm Pacific Time this Friday — be sure to include #godofwarascension in your Tweet so we can find it (we’re expecting a lot of questions!) If we pick your question to ask during the show, we’ll even send you a signed God of War: Ascension poster.

Thanks and see you on April 30th! There is much more to come.