God of War Laufey Story: Timeline, Prequel Framing, and Setup

The first thing to anchor on is what is actually confirmed about the God of War Laufey story on the record as of 2026-08-04.

The protagonist is Faye, also called Laufey and Nál. She is the wife of Kratos and the mother of Atreus, and she takes the playable role for the first time in the series' history on this entry. She is also the central figure of the Everywhen adventure, the multi-mythology afterlife-of-the-gods setting that anchors the game.

The game's opening beats back-date the Norse saga. Per IGN, the God of War Laufey story starts at the moment that Faye's body is burnt on the funeral pyre at the beginning of 2018's God of War. In other words, the first cutscene of the 2018 God of War — Faye's death and the dispersal of her ashes — is the temporal anchor for Laufey's protagonist-led narrative. The game's framing pivots on that specific moment and steps outward from there, rather than picking up after the events of Ragnarök.

Confirmed cross-game purpose:

• Faye is the playable protagonist.
• The story is positioned to set up the next Kratos-led God of War game, which Polygon and IGN confirm has been announced as a separate project that arrives after Laufey.
• Kratos is not a playable character in Laufey (per IGN). Christopher Judge voices Kratos, and Kratos carries an "important role" in the story via the IGN interview attribution, but he is not on the controller.
• The Everywhen is the central setting, replacing the Norse Nine Realms as the operative world for this entry. Multi-mythology deities, including Egyptian and Mongolian / Tibetan war gods, populate the enemy roster.

That is the confirmed layer: protagonist identity, opening-anchor point, the prequel-to-the-Norse-saga framing, the Everywhen as the operative setting, and the forward-pointer to a Kratos-led follow-up.

The second layer is the 2018 God of War and God of War Ragnarök (2022) canon that already exists around Faye. This is legacy context — material that is canon for the Norse duology and that grounds the Laufey protagonist. It is clearly labeled here as such, because current-game facts and legacy facts cannot be silently merged.

Legacy context (labeled):

• Faye is established in God of War (2018) as Kratos's wife and Atreus's mother. Her death at the very start of the 2018 game — outside the playable window — is what launches the Norse duology's plot.
• Faye's hidden plans to protect Kratos and Atreus become canon in God of War Ragnarök (2022). She is the off-screen architect of much of the Norse saga's protective setup, and that role is preserved in Laufey's protagonist-led story.
• Faye is a Jötnar frost giant and is named the Golden Hand of the Jötnar in canon, with a power of foresight that drives much of the Everywhen story in Laufey.
• The Norse duology's Nine Realms (Midgard, Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, Muspelheim, Niflheim, Helheim, Jotunheim) are legacy geography. They are not the operative world in Laufey. The Everywhen replaces them as the operative setting.

This material is sourced to the Fandom wiki's Faye and God of War Laufey pages and to the IGN interview that explicitly ties Laufey's protagonist arc to the Norse duology's canon. Neither of those sources is independent of the other on the specific character details, but both the IGN interview and the PlayStation Blog first-look post attribute the same canonical reading.

The third layer is the separate Kratos-led God of War game that has been announced to release after Laufey. This is a forward-pointer, not a page on this site, and it does not have its own brief or scope on the record.

What is confirmed: Polygon and IGN both cover the announcement that a separate, Kratos-led God of War game is coming after Laufey. The PlayStation Blog and the SDCC 2026 Barlog comments sit alongside that coverage. The follow-up game continues the story that Laufey sets up, with Kratos returning to the playable role after sitting out Laufey's protagonist-led arc.

What is not confirmed: there is no release date for the Kratos-led follow-up, no platform scope beyond a likely PS5 plus a possible PC window (not announced), no announced title, no character roster beyond Kratos, and no setting brief. There is also no announced overlap with the Everywhen or with the Faye-led cast. Because the project is not briefed, this site does not host a dedicated page for it. It is mentioned here so readers who arrive looking for "what comes after Laufey" are pointed at the right fact: a Kratos-led God of War game has been announced, but its scope is not on the record.

Both, depending on how the framing is read. Compared to the 2018 God of War, Laufey is a prequel — its narrative anchor is the opening of the 2018 game (Faye's death), and it expands the story up to and around that moment. Compared to God of War Ragnarök (2022), Laufey is also a prequel in terms of immediate narrative consequence, since its revelations sit alongside the canon Ragnarök already established. Compared to the announced Kratos-led follow-up game, Laufey is a setup. It is not yet a sequel to any released entry; it is a prequel to the 2018 game and a setup for the next one.

No. The canonical facts about Faye — her Jötnar heritage, her foresight, her protective plans for Kratos and Atreus — are already established within Ragnarök's plot. Laufey does not undo any of those canon beats, and the IGN interview framing places Laufey as a deepening of those same canon facts, not a contradiction.