Christopher Judge, the voice behind Kratos in 2018’s God of War and the upcoming sequel, has said that his surgery was the reason that God of War: Ragnarok was delayed from its original 2021 release window.
Judge shared this story on Twitter following God of War being crowned the champion of IGN’s Best Video Game of All Time Bracket. He Quote Tweeted a Tweet from God of War’s engineering lead Jeet Shroff that was responding to the victory and he then continued to thank the fans and send love to his God of War family.
“Thank you to all the fans. Not just of GofW, but to the gaming community,” Judge wrote. “ALL OF OUR GAMES,have been a lifeline during these difficult times. To my GofW family, I will NEVER be shy about telling you how much I love all of you! We will continue to laugh, cry, and be great!”
An hour later, he revealed the news that God of War: Ragnarok, which was revealed at September 2020’s PlayStation 5 Showcase with a release window of 2021, was delayed to 2022 because of him.
“[100%] in my feels right now,” Judge continued. “I need to be forthcoming. This has been approved by no one. To the beloved fandom, Ragnarok was delayed because of me. August 2019, I couldn’t walk. Had to have back surgery, both hips replaced, and, knee surgery. They waited for me too rehab.
“No threats, no , ‘who do you think you are?’ Nothing but love and support. And @SonySantaMonica has never said a word about the delay, and what caused it. Studios are assholes, but this company from top to bottom, should give us hope.
“What they did for the crew is way more… That I can’t talk about, but I’ve said to all involved, [it is the classiest] thing that ive EVER heard about in this business. Everyone involved in the GofW franchise puts their hearts and souls in every frame you see. I want thank everyone that’s has allowed me to play… And laugh, and love, and cry, without judgement, but with unconditional support and love, in this thing of ALL OF OURS”
Judge ended by also revealing that he quit after he was told that Cory Barlog would not be directing the sequel and that Eric Williams would be taking his place. However, Barlog quickly eased his worry and Judge would go on to realize that “ERIC WILLIAMS is a mortherf***** BEAST!!!”
“Last thing. Barlog told me @Tribeca that he wouldn’t be directing sequel,” Judge said. “I quit.(no joke) he said, do you trust me?(yes) He said Eric is a beast. I said he better be… UPDATE, ERIC WILLIAMS is a [motherf*****] BEAST!!!”
Barlog responded to Judge’s Tweets by saying, “would walk through a thousand fires for you, my friend.” As if that wasn’t enough, he also included a gif of The Lord of the Rings’ Aragorn saying, “You have my sword.”
For more of God of War: Ragnarok, check out Barlog and Williams’ thoughts on Ragnarok changing directors and why Williams was decided as the right choice, how this sequel will further Kratos and Atreus’ story, and why this game will be the final entry in the Norse Saga.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.