Ragnarök is coming to PC, and it’s bringing Kratos and Atreus with it. During their recent State of Play event, Sony announced that the critically acclaimed God of War Ragnarök will be landing on PC on September 19th, 2024. The news was accompanied by a new trailer and the exciting announcement that pre-orders are now open.

This marks just over a year since God of War Ragnarök first launched, delivering another epic chapter in the story of Kratos, the weathered god of war, and his son Atreus. When we last left them in 2018’s God of War, the father-son duo had just returned from a momentous journey to scatter the ashes of Atreus’ mother from the highest peak in the nine realms. In Ragnarök, their peaceful lives are shattered by the ominous signs of an approaching apocalypse – an event seemingly tied to Atreus’ own mysterious destiny. The story follows Kratos and Atreus as they embark on a new journey, sometimes together, sometimes apart, to unravel this destiny and thwart the schemes of the manipulative god Odin.

However, a detail in Sony’s accompanying blog post and announcement video raised some eyebrows: God of War Ragnarök will require players to have a PlayStation Network account. The reason for this remains unclear, especially considering the recent controversy surrounding a similar requirement for Helldivers 2. After facing intense backlash from players, Sony ultimately reversed course and dropped the PSN requirement for Helldivers 2.

This PC port signifies a shift in strategy for Sony. Ragnarök‘s arrival on PC comes at a time when gaming publishers are increasingly looking to expand their reach beyond the limitations of console exclusivity. This marks one of the fastest PC ports for a Sony first-party single-player title, released just over a year after its initial console launch. Previous Sony exclusives like The Last of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima all remained PlayStation console staples for several years before making the jump to PC.

The timing of this announcement is somewhat ironic, however. Just earlier this week, PlayStation’s new CEO, Hermen Hulst, expressed the company’s intention to prioritize day-and-date releases for multiplayer games on PC, while still aiming to entice players to experience single-player titles on PlayStation consoles.

There’s some truth to Hulst’s strategy. Sony’s past attempts at porting single-player games to PC haven’t exactly been smooth sailing, often plagued with technical issues at launch. Here’s hoping that with the power of Ragnarök behind it, the God of War will conquer the PC realm without any such hiccups.