Today In Gaming History: God Of War Launches For PS2 On March 22, 2005

March 22 is a special day in the gaming world. On this day in 2005, Sony Santa Monica launched God of War, the first instalment in a series that would go on to become one of gaming's biggest names.

The God of War series dates back further than 2005, however, as the team at Sony Santa Monica started development on the project for years before release, animation director Bruno Velazquez said in a tweet. "I'm glad and the rest of the team trusted me enough to work with Kratos for the past 14 yrs," Velazquez said.

David Jaffe designed and directed the first God of War, which was released for the PlayStation 2 on March 22, 2005. It was followed up by God of War II in 2007, which was again directed by Jaffe. Joining him as co-director was Cory Barlog, who also designed the 2007 game. Jaffe would go on to leave Sony, and God of War III was released in 2010 with Stig Asmussen as its director.

God of War: Ascension followed in 2013. 2018's God of War, which is a reboot of sorts for the series and brought back Barlog as directed, was released in 2018 for PS4 to much acclaim and big sales.

The God of War series has also received some spin-offs, including the God of War: Betrayal for mobile. As for other non-console releases, God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta, were developed by Ready at Dawn and released for PSP. These games eventually also released on PS3.

Outside of the video games, a God of War movie has been in the works for nearly a decade. At one point in time, the writers from the Saw franchise were attached to write the script, but there hasn't been an update on the film in a very long time.