Santa Monica Studio

History

Santa Monica Studio are an LA-based developer founded in 1999. Outside of their first game, 2001's Kinetica for PS2, they've exclusively developed titles for their critically and commercially acclaimed God of War series. SMS did, however, attempt to create a sci-fi IP in the mid-2010s, but it was cancelled in 2014. They also acted as a publisher and incubator for indie game studios, including renowned titles like 2012's Journey from Thatgamecompany, but this initiative was discontinued in 2016.

So far, SMS have shipped 1 PS5 title as lead developer, 2022's God of War Ragnarök, which has already vaulted them into the top tier of PS Studios on PS5. Critically, Ragnarök is tied with Astro Bot as the highest-rated first-party PS5 game on Metacritic at 94. Commercially, the cross-gen title is also the fastest-selling first-party game in PlayStation history, with 5.1 million units in its first week, and has now surpassed 15 million copies sold. SMS also supported Ragnarök with PS5 Pro enhancements, a PC port, and the free Valhalla roguelite epilogue.

SMS's other released PS5 title is 2026's God of War Sons of Sparta, a 2D action-platformer primarily developed by Mega Cat Studios, meaning the shadow-dropped title's mixed response lands mostly on them. Instead, SMS have been working on 2 mainline GoW projects. However, both bring something new to the IP, and therefore could easily disrupt the studio's fortunes if not executed correctly.

My Analysis & Predictions

God of War Laufey is SMS's next title and releases in February 2027. Its initial 20-minute gameplay trailer was praised for its fast combat and enemies spanning numerous mythologies. However, it's the first mainline title where series protagonist Kratos is not the main character. Instead, it features his wife, the titular Laufey. This pivot, while narratively interesting, could limit sales, as some GoW fans may not want to play as anyone other than Kratos.

SMS are also remaking the original Greek trilogy with a TBD release. While this news pleased long-time fans, unlike the PS3/Vita remasters, they're full remakes. This comes with its own challenges, as SMS must carefully modernize more old-school aspects, like camera perspective, difficulty spikes, and overt violent and sexual themes, in a way that doesn't feel censored.

Regardless of how these pan out, though, Ragnarök's record-breaking achievements ensure that SMS's work on PS5 will be positively viewed. At the very least, SMS will ship multiple PS5 titles, which is more than most PS Studios, including similarly prestigious studios like Naughty Dog, can say. SMS's track record also suggests these new games will at least be good, which combined with Ragnarök, places them with Insomniac as two of the best PS Studios of the PS5 era.

Ragnarök's 6 Game Awards Trophies

PS5 Games