The topic of God of War: Ragnarok's release date is of interest to many PlayStation gamers. The Santa Monica Studio sequel to what could be considered the best exclusive on the PlayStation 4 is easily one of, if not the most anticipated releases of 2022. Yet beyond a vague 2022 release window, fans are left speculating when God of War: Ragnarok may truly arrive. A holiday 2022 launch for God of War: Ragnarok would make a lot of sense, but a newly discovered age classification out of Saudi Arabia could imply an earlier launch than expected.
The official ratings board for Saudi Arabia, the General Commission for Audiovisual Media, appears to have rated God of War: Ragnarok and assigned it an age classification of 18. The 18 rating is reserved for games suitable for adults ages 18 and above. This is especially notable because Saudi Arabia has a distinct rating for unreleased games, dubbed "To be classified." In other words, Saudia Arabia has had access to enough of God of War: Ragnarok to do a full rating of the game.
Before anyone leaps to the assumption that God of War: Ragnarok's development is finished or in a playable state, that's not how ratings traditionally work. Ratings boards do not typically play the games they rate. Even the ESRB only rarely play-tests games post-launch to ensure publisher transparency about in-game content. Otherwise, ratings boards are entirely reliant on publishers providing a full accounting of content found pertinent to the game's rating, typically including both text descriptions and video evidence.
What that means is that God of War: Ragnarok is very certainly still in its most intense period of development. But it's also far enough along that the development team is able to submit an accurate summary of the game's content, as well as potentially videos showing its most "extreme" gameplay and cutscene content.
The big question is what this means for God of War: Ragnarok's release date. No one should expect God of War: Ragnarok to launch this winter or spring due to Saudi Arabia's rating, of course. Not only is Horizon Forbidden West going to take priority for these seasons, but there's likely much left to do -- including PlayStation's marketing lead-up. It could, however, mean a release date ahead of 2022's holiday season.
Just this past week, a leaked retailer listing for God of War: Ragnarok listed a release date of September 30. While it's possibly just a placeholder date, in combination with the Saudi Arabian rating a September release could make a lot of sense. It may be some time before that's officially confirmed, as PlayStation focuses on Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7 for early 2022, but PlayStation fans will likely be that much more excited, nonetheless.
God of War: Ragnarok releases in 2022 on PS4 and PS5.