Sony Santa Monica not driven by "publisher mentality"

God of War: Ascension is on the way, and with the announcement out there, the hard work begins for Sony Santa Monica.

Shannon Studstill, the studio’s head, has spoken to Gamasutra about not being bound in chains by Sony, and how this freedom must be capped by time and budget.

”We are not a studio, nor are we a company, that has the publisher mentality driving the creative decisions within the franchise. That happens at the team level, and we cherish that ability that Sony gives us.”

Studstill continued, ”It’s certainly something at Sony Santa Monica that we take advantage of. We want the visionary in there making decisions. What does that person believe in as far as what compels the gamer, and what is the new experience that they want to introduce? It’s all happening on the ground floor.

There is a point where upper management needs to look at it again as far as expense: How many people are we going to need to throw at that new thing, and what is the future of that new feature? What does that maybe open up down the line that we didn’t have before? All of that stuff is highly scrutinized.”

We expect to see the return of Kratos early next year.