14 DAY TRIAL // The development team currently working on God of War: Ascension sees collaboration as one of the most important elements of game creation and the entire process would be too risky to launch if the team were not able to work together quickly and easily.
Shannon Studstill, the leader of the Sony Santa Monica studio, has told Gamasutra that, “Some bubbles happen more frequently with some directors than others, but I think, with this team right now, there's a lot coming from those people that are in there, making that minotaur look as good as he does.”
She added, “You can't - these days - put a $60 million product out there and have a team day-to-day there, lockstep with you as a leader and visionary, and not incorporate them into the process. It's just way too risky.”
Studstill has also made it clear that the process is not a democratic one and that the input coming from all levels of Sony Santa Monica is evaluated, and then game director Todd Papy makes a decision that the entire team needs to accept and implement.
The same process is probably used by other big development teams while smaller studios, where the developers have a better knowledge of each other, can have a more collaborative effort.
God of War: Ascension is the next core title in the long-running franchise and the development team at Sony Santa Monica says that it will deliver a prequel, which will explore Kratos’ humanity before he became involved with his vendetta against the gods.
The game will also introduce multiplayer to the series for the first time, allowing gamers to collaborate to bring down monsters and to battle each other in huge arenas.
God of War: Ascension will be launched at some point during spring 2013 on the PlayStation 3.