No. Kratos is not playable in God of War Laufey, based on everything Santa Monica has shown so far.
That has never been true of a full God of War game, and it is worth sitting with for a second. Across every console and handheld entry since 2005, you have controlled Kratos. (The one footnote is A Call from the Wilds, a 2018 Facebook Messenger text adventure starring Atreus.) Laufey ends that streak.
You play as Faye.
Does he appear at all?
Only in glimpses so far. Collider noted little flashes of Kratos in the extended gameplay footage, but Santa Monica has not said how big his role is.
What we do know is that Kratos is central to Faye’s motivation even if he is not on screen. The premise is that Faye wakes in the Everywhen after her funeral and discovers the plans she left behind to protect Kratos and Atreus are at risk. Everything she does is in service of two people who are, from her side of the story, unreachable.
So his presence looms over the game either way. Whether those glimpses add up to real scenes, flashbacks, or a voice at the edge of the story has not been stated.
Christopher Judge appeared at the Comic-Con panel and has since confirmed he is returning as Kratos - but for the next Kratos-led game. He also said he does not know what is being done with Laufey.
Why bench your own mascot?
Three reasons, and they are all good ones.
Faye is the series’ biggest unanswered question. She has driven two games entirely from off-screen. Every major beat of the Norse saga traces back to a decision she made before the story started. Players have spent eight years assembling her out of secondhand accounts. There is enormous appetite for the real thing.
She unlocks a different game. Kratos fights like a man moving furniture - deliberate, heavy, committed. That weight is the point, and it also caps what the combat can do. Faye is fast, moves between ground and air without breaking the action, and has a soul-detaching golden palm that turns one enemy into two targets. None of that works on Kratos without breaking him.
It protects the sequel. Santa Monica has already confirmed a Kratos-led follow-up that connects directly to this story. Giving the studio a game to experiment in, without risking the flagship character, is a sensible way to try new mechanics.
So is this a spin-off?
No, and the studio went out of its way to say so.
The Kratos sequel was announced in the same Comic-Con breath as the release date, along with the detail that it ties directly into what Faye does in the Everywhen. That makes Laufey setup rather than a side dish.
If you skip it, you will be missing information going into the next Kratos game. That appears to be entirely deliberate.
The bottom line
You are not Kratos this time. You are the woman who made Kratos who he is now - and based on Christopher Judge’s own comments at the panel, that is not fan-service framing. He described Faye as the reason Kratos ever turned toward hope and forgiveness at all.
God of War Laufey arrives February 16, 2027 on PS5.
Correction, September 26, 2026: an earlier version said no God of War game had ever put you in control of anyone but Kratos, and that any appearance by Kratos in Laufey was unconfirmed. A 2018 text adventure starred Atreus, and brief flashes of Kratos appear in the extended gameplay.
More on the game: God of War Laufey: Everything We Know - Release Date, Story, Cast & Gameplay · Is God of War Laufey Coming to PC? What Sony Has Actually Said · Prime Video’s God of War Is Recasting Kratos After Ryan Hurst’s On-Set Injury
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