The official God of War PC port has unquestionably made a lot of people very happy. However, considering Sony’s history with exclusives, it was by no means guaranteed to happen.
People had been calling out for a God of War PC port since the acclaimed game was released back in 2018. For years, those calls appeared to have fallen on the ears of a rather unsympathetic, yet for this purpose relatively powerful, deity: Sony. If only we could convince Kratos to turn on these creators, right?
Few understand the power of the console exclusive like Sony does, and over the years they have proved critical to the success of the Japanese company’s PlayStation consoles. Titles such as Bloodborne, Uncharted, Horizon Zero Dawn (until recently), and Ghost of Tsushima have all been instrumental in getting gamers to choose PlayStation over their competitors.
The good news is that Sony have recently shown signs of relaxing their long held position regarding exclusives, particularly in regards to PC ports. In 2020 we saw Horizon Zero Dawn make its way to PC, despite the fact that Sony held all the cards.
The next in line was, as of October 2021, God of War. As announced through PlayStation’s official channels, a God of War PC port would be coming to Steam and the Epic Games store on January 14th, 2022.
That said, while the path to an official God of War PC port remained closed until January, there had been an alternative for those willing to tread the path less travelled for some time. What are these riddles through which I speak? Listen child, let me tell you about… ok, I got a little carried away there.
I’ll relax the whole ‘mystical seer’ routine and get to the point: you can play God of War on PC through the PlayStation Now app. How to do this can be found further down the page, but first we are going to take a look at the recently released official God of War PC port.
The official God of War PC port!
As mentioned, God of War is available now on Steam and the Epic Games store. Alongside the release date, Sony Santa Monica revealed a number of other details concerning the port, mostly concerned with the potential power high-end gaming PCs will be bringing to the award-winning game.
Graphical improvements include the ability to run the game at 4K resolution with an unlocked frame rate – if your PC has the juice. 21:9 ultra-widescreen displays will also be supported.
A wide range of keyboard and mouse mapping options will be available, and of course, you’ll be able to play with PS4 DualShock or PS5 DualSense wireless controllers if you’d prefer.
Those who purchase God of War on PC will also receive a few extra bonuses in the form of early-game armour sets and some cosmetic items. You can check out what’s included below:
- Death’s Vow Armour Sets for Kratos and Atreus
- Exile’s Guardian Shield Skin
- Buckler of the Forge Shield Skin
- Shining Elven Soul Shield Skin
- Dökkenshieldr Shield Skin
PC specifications
Sony have also released the system requirements to play God of War on PC, and they are by no means unsubstantial. There are 5 different settings to play the game on, each one with certain improvements and features. To give you an idea of the range, here is a complete list of the settings, as well as the recommended hardware to run them.
Minimum (720p, 30fps)
- Graphics settings: Low
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 960 (4GB) or AMD R9 290X (4GB)
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k (4 core 3.3Ghz) or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 (4 core 3.1Ghz)
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 70GB HDD
Recommended (1080p, 30fps)
- Graphics settings: Original
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060 (6GB) or AMD RX 570 (4GB)
- CPU: Intel Core i5 6600k (4 core 3.5Ghz) or AMD Ryzen 5 2400G (4 core 3.6Ghz)
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 70GB SSD
High (1080p, 60fps)
- Graphics settings: Original
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 1070 (8GB) or AMD RX 5600XT (6GB)
- CPU: Intel Core i7 4770k (4 core 3.5Ghz) or AMD Ryzen 7 2700 (8 core 3.2Ghz)
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 70GB SSD
Performance (1440p, 60fps)
- Graphics settings: High
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 2070 (8GB) or AMD RX 5700XT (8GB)
- CPU: Intel Core i7 7700K (4 core 4.2Ghz) or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (8 core 3.6Ghz)
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 70GB SSD
Ultra (4K, 60fps)
- Graphics settings: Ultra
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 3080 (10GB) or AMD RX 6800XT (16GB)
- CPU: Intel Core i9 9900K (8 core 3.6Ghz) or AMD Ryzen 9 3950X (16 core 3.5Ghz)
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 70GB SSD
The long road to a God of War PC port
For years, the idea of an official God of War PC port had support from some people in high places. Cory Balrog, the game’s director and story writer, confirmed through a Twitter post that he would love to see it happen.
Unfortunately, at the time he was also quick to point out that “it is, sadly, a decision far above my paygrade”.
You know, I would love that. It is, sadly, a decision far above my paygrade. As is proven on a daily basis, I am no Kojima.
— cory barlog 🖖 (@corybarlog) October 29, 2019
Other than that little tidbit, there really wasn’t much to go on. A few rumours gained some traction in online forums, although none of them stood up to much scrutiny.
The best indicator that fans ever received regarding God of War coming to PC was how Sony handled bringing Horizon Zero Dawn to PC in 2020. The two games share similar standings in Sony’s list of exclusives, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to stipulate they could be treated similarly.
Bringing Horizon Zero Dawn to PC coincided with Sony’s plans to drum up more anticipation for Horizon Forbidden West, likely with the motive of creating more series fans that could be convinced to purchase a PlayStation console when the sequel is released.
It would appear to be a solid strategy that maximises profits from each exclusive title, as well as feeding into their primary objective of selling more consoles.
Now that an official God of War PC port is upon us, it seems the game has indeed been used in a similar way; serving as a primer to reignite interest for the fifth instalment in the God of War series.
How to play the game using PlayStation Now
Note: This method of playing God of War on PC has been made largely redundant since the official PC port was released. However, some players may decide it is still an attractive method to trial the game.
First thing’s first, I should probably explain what PlayStation Now is. PlayStation Now is an app that allows gamers to play their PlayStation games through a number of different platforms, including one’s PC. It is essentially a cloud streaming service that you have to pay for.
Before we go any further though there is an important caveat to this information – PlayStation Now is only available in the following countries; Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK and USA.
There are reports that you can successfully use the PlayStation Now app outside of these countries. However, to do so would require a PlayStation Network account from one of the above countries, as well as a VPN that is capable of masking your IP address so that it appears it is coming from the same country.
Even if all of these conditions are met there is no guarantee it will work well, as there are reports that this method can cause extra lagging. Is it worth it? It all depends how desperate you are to play God of War on PC right now.
If you choose to go ahead with this technique then a PlayStation Now subscription will cost you either $9.99 USD a month or $59.99 USD a year. With the cost of this subscription you gain access to a library of games – some of which are permanent fixtures, some of which sub in and out. Importantly for those wanting to play God of War on PC, it is a ‘ongoing access’ title.
So there you have it, if you are prepared to sign the contract, and persevere through some probable lag, then proceed. For those that wish to hold out for an official God of War PC port, read on.
God of War on PC is available now on Steam or the Epic Games store.
