The peak concurrent player counts for Santa Monica Studio’s God of War Ragnarök are less than half of the studio’s previous installment God of War.

A screenshot from God of War Ragnarök (2024), Santa Monica Studio

As reported by SteamDB, God of War Ragnarök hit a peak concurrent player count of 31,606 earlier today just a few days after it became available to purchase on Steam.

SteamDB concurrent player data for God of War Ragnarök (2024), Santa Monica Studio

This is over 57% less than the previous installment in the franchise, God of War, which had a peak concurrent player count of 73,529 when it released to Steam back in January 2022.

SteamDB concurrent player data for God of War (2022), Santa Monica Studio

Interestingly, both games have the exact same Metascore of 94 from critics on Metacritics. However, the User Score is a full point lower for God of War Ragnarok. It sits at 8.1 while God of War has a 9.1.

Despite the scores being similar, the lack of players for God of War indicates players are not purchasing the game. One of the reasons could be that video game consultancy Sweet Baby Inc. led by Kim Belair worked on God of War Ragnarok.

Given this fact, the game was added to KabrutusRambo’s Sweet Baby Inc. detected Steam curator list, which has over 436,912 followers.

A list of games Sweet Baby Inc. worked on that includes Contraband

Another reason for the lack of players could be the fact that PlayStation Studios, the game’s publisher, is charging full price for the game despite it originally being released as an exclusive on PlayStation back in 2022.

Furthermore, the game requires Steam players to link their account to a PlayStation Network account.

A screenshot from God of War Ragnarök (2024), Santa Monica Studio

This PlayStation Network account requirement saw many players leave negative reviews. The reviews for the game on Steam are currently “Mixed” with Steam reporting that “67% of the 2,887 user reviews for this game are positive.”

SteamDB reports the game received 484 negative reviews on September 19th, 765 negative reviews on the 20th, and 256 so far on the 21st for a total of 15,05 negative reviews. But there are still more positive reviews with a total of 1,505.

God of War Ragnarök Steam reviews via SteamDB

The game was scrutinized by gamers back in 2022 after the game race-replaced the jötunn Angrboda.

Angrboda in God of War: Ragnarok (2022), Sony Santa Monica

The game’s Narrative Director Matt Sophos responded to the criticism on X writing, “Do they also have blue Dwarves in Norse mythology? Was Loki the son of a Greek demigod? Please show me in the Eddas where it says that all Jötunn were lily white? Let me save you the time… you can’t. I’ve read them.”

Matt Sophos on X

When asked if he would make white characters in an Egyptian God of War series, Sophos responded, “You *do* know Jötunn aren’t real right? They can be anyone or anything? Some are even giant serpents?”

He added, “But I get it. You were only okay with Jörmungandr because his scales were white, right? Well, good luck to you. Hope you can find a game that better fits your sensibilities.”

Matt Sophos on X

In a lengthier thread, Sophos explained the decision around Angrboda, “Angrboda in our game is a young black woman. The vast, vast majority of players are thrilled and think she looks incredible—and boy, does she. But a tiny, vocal sliver of the internet was offended at this notion. I’m going to address a few of the main topics of outrage.”

He continued, “‘You caved to outside pressure.’ I can count on 2 fingers the # of notes we’ve gotten for story changes to 2018 + GoW Ragnarok combined. This was not one of them. I’m grateful for the trust given to us to tell the best story possible without interference. So yeah, nonsense.”

Matt Sophos on X

Next, he wrote, “‘You made it political.’ As a writer, your job is to tell stories that are compelling & relatable. You bring pieces of yourself to stories and your opinions shine through. So writing is *always* political—it’s just usually only called that if the politics aren’t agreed with.”

“‘It’s not accurate to Norse mythology/doesn’t respect the culture.’ Hoo boy. The big one. Let me start with this: God of War is our interpretation of mythology, not history—Norse or Greek. We tell a personal story with the backdrop of gods, Giants, etc. through our lens.”

Matt Sophos on X

After going over a number of other characters that the game changed, Sophos returned to Angrboda. He wrote, “I guess what I’m saying is this… We’ve consistently taken mythological characters and given them our own spin.”

“So if the color of Angrboda’s skin is where you draw the line at how respectful we’ve been, it’s probably worth some self-examination. Thanks for listening,” he concluded.

Matt Sophos on X

On top of changing Angrboda’s race, the game was also criticized after writer Anthony Burch admitted he wanted to make Kratos talk about kissing men.

Burch wrote on X, “I was a writer on this. I dunno if you’ll like the parts I wrote but I’m pretty sure you’ll like the game in general. Also I tried really hard to make Kratos talk about kissing guys.”

In a follow-up, he added, “(i dunno if that line made the final cut. It lives in the same purgatory with the line where Kratos mentions Playstation All Stars Battle Royale as being a canon part of his backstory)”

Anthony Burch on X

What do you make of the peak concurrent player count for God of War Ragnarök being so much lower than God of War?