As if it needed to be said, Sony and Santa Monica Studio's forthcoming action-adventure epic, God of War, is one of the most highly anticipated video games of 2018, with the title currently only having a little less than a month to go before its release. Now, director Cory Barlog has confirmed that the PlayStation 4 exclusive has reached a major and necessary point in its production prior to launch, by revealing that the game has officially gone gold.

As seen further below in the tweet from God of War director Cory Barlog, he announces the title's gold status, which means that the impending release is now officially ready to be sent off for manufacturing and shipping. Barlog then went on to thank everyone who worked on the game with the tweet, and shared more on the milestone in a PlayStation Blog post, saying, "Going gold means so much more to me with this game. It has been a long and exhausting journey filled with laughs, arguments, and a healthy dose of fear--with a side of doubt." Expounding further, he wrote:

"This was the scariest, most wonderful thing I have ever done and I can honestly say it would never have been possible without the full-throated support of Sony and the tireless work of the incredible team at Santa Monica Studio. We have been through a lot together and I would not change a thing."

For those unaware, God of War was initially announced during E3 2016 with a reveal trailer that depicted a vast departure from previous entries in the series, as Kratos not only found himself in a world steeped in Norse mythology instead of Greek lore, but also would be traveling this realm with his son Atreus as a companion. What's more is that the game offers even deeper changes in the way of traversal, combat, themes, and perspective, with the team at Santa Monica Studio having altered players' views from a fixed-point to a third-person over-the-shoulder camera angle.

All things considered, with God of War's launch just mere weeks from now, it's likely that Sony and Santa Monica Studio will begin ramping up promotion for the game even more so than it already has in the past. From the recent release of a fantastically detailed CG trailer to GoW having been shown off on the court during an actual Golden State Warriors basketball game, the companies have definitely set an incredibly high bar when it comes to marketing the title. And with sequels already in the planning phase, it stands to reason that the followups will get the same kind of epic treatment with future ads.

God of War is set to launch on April 20, 2018 for PlayStation 4.

Source: Cory Barlog – Twitter, PlayStation Blog