God of War Games in Order

Release order for a first run: the 2005 original, God of War II, Chains of Olympus, God of War III, Ghost of Sparta, Ascension, then God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarok. If you would rather follow Kratos's life in sequence, start with Ascension, then Chains of Olympus, the 2005 original, Ghost of Sparta, God of War II and God of War III, and finish with the same two Norse games. The Norse pair ends both orders, and it is the one stretch you cannot reshuffle, because Ragnarok picks up directly from the 2018 game.

There are two defensible starts and the split is real. God of War (2018) is the designed entry point: Santa Monica built it so a newcomer could begin there, it fills in Kratos's past through conversation rather than assuming you know it, and it is a normal purchase on PS4, PS5 and PC rather than the hunt through old hardware that most of the Greek games turn into. The 2005 original is the better start if you want the whole arc, because Kratos's rage in the Norse games lands harder once you have watched him earn it, and the three mainline Greek games are short by modern standards at roughly ten hours each. The one game not to start with is Ragnarok, which opens mid-relationship with people the 2018 game spent its entire runtime building.

Ten have been released as of August 2026, but only eight matter for the order above: six Greek entries from 2005 to 2013, then God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarok (2022). The two outside that list are God of War: Betrayal, a 2007 side-scroller for Java phones set between the first two games and long since unplayable, and God of War Sons of Sparta, a 2D prequel released for PS5 in February 2026. There is also a free Ragnarok expansion, Valhalla (2023), and a short Facebook Messenger text game from 2018 called A Call from the Wilds.

No. This is the most common worry about the series and the honest answer is simply no. God of War (2018) is a soft reboot built for people who never touched the PS2 games: it opens years after Kratos has left Greece, gives him a new family and a new pantheon, and fills in his history through dialogue rather than assuming it. Nothing in the Norse games is locked behind the Greek ones. What you lose by skipping is weight, not plot. Kratos spends both Norse games trying not to be the man the Greek games made him, and the moments that reach back, the Blades of Chaos above all, hit differently if you swung them yourself first.

Yes, most of the Greek era. Two groups have to stay together. God of War (2018) and Ragnarok are one story in two halves. And the original three are one continuous arc: God of War II ends with Kratos and the Titans climbing Mount Olympus and God of War III begins on that climb, so splitting them leaves you mid-sentence. Everything else is genuinely optional. Chains of Olympus is a self-contained job from Kratos's ten years serving the gods. Ghost of Sparta is the Deimos story, the strongest of the side entries and the one the 2026 prequel builds on. Ascension is an origin story about breaking his blood oath to Ares, and nothing later depends on it. Betrayal you cannot play at all. If you only want the modern series, skip all six Greek games and start at 2018.

Yes. This is the one place in the series where skipping actually breaks the story. Ragnarok is set three years later, at the end of Fimbulwinter, and it takes for granted that you know who Atreus turns out to be, what Kratos did to Baldur, and why Freya now wants him dead. Ragnarok does offer an optional story recap of the 2018 game when you start it, so you will not be completely lost, but a few minutes of summary is not the same as having lived through the relationship it summarises.

The two Norse games are easy and the Greek ones are stranded. God of War (2018) is on PS4, runs on PS5, and has been on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store since January 14, 2022. God of War Ragnarok is on PS4 and PS5 and reached those same two PC stores on September 19, 2024, with the free Valhalla expansion included. On the Greek side only the third game got a modern version, God of War III Remastered for PS4 in July 2015, which plays on PS5 through backwards compatibility. The other five have never reached PS4, PS5 or PC. On a PS5 the closest thing to a route is PlayStation Plus Premium, where PS3-era versions are cloud streamed rather than installed, and that catalog changes by month and by country, so check what is actually in it before subscribing. Otherwise you are back on original hardware, where the 2012 PS3 release God of War Saga is the cheapest way in, though only three of its five games are on the discs and the other two shipped as download vouchers. God of War Sons of Sparta (2026) is PS5 only. No God of War game has ever been released on Xbox or Nintendo hardware. This reflects August 2026, and storefronts move.

The Norse saga is, the franchise is not. Santa Monica said before Ragnarok launched that the Norse arc would be two games rather than a trilogy, and the free Valhalla expansion of December 12, 2023 is its epilogue, a roguelite set after Odin's defeat. Then February 2026 brought two things at once: the surprise PS5 prequel God of War Sons of Sparta, and confirmation that Santa Monica is remaking the original Greek trilogy, a project it described as very early in development with no date attached. God of War Laufey arrives February 16, 2027 on PS5 and is the first mainline entry where Kratos is not the protagonist; you play Faye, his Jotunn wife, after her death. Santa Monica has not said where Kratos himself goes after that, and the Greek trilogy remake still has no date.

A sequel. It is a soft reboot in tone and design, not a retelling: Kratos survived the end of God of War III, left Greece, and the 2018 game finds him in Midgard with a son and a wife already dead. Everything in the Greek games still happened. The confusion is worse now that an actual remake exists, because Santa Monica announced in February 2026 that it is rebuilding the original Greek trilogy, which is a separate project. One more naming quirk: the 2018 game carries no number and is officially titled just God of War, the same as the 2005 game, which is why every list writes it as God of War (2018) and why people call it God of War 4.

Because it is a prequel. Ascension shipped in March 2013, last of the Greek games, but it is set six months after Kratos killed his wife and daughter and about ten years before the 2005 original, with the Furies hunting him for breaking his blood oath to Ares. That makes it the earliest of the eight games listed here. One caveat as of 2026: it is no longer the earliest in the franchise. God of War Sons of Sparta, released for PS5 in February 2026, covers Kratos's boyhood training at the Agoge alongside his brother Deimos, which sits before everything else.

Ghost of Sparta yes, Chains of Olympus only if you are completing the set. Both are proper God of War games rather than cut-down handheld spin-offs, and both were remastered in HD for PS3 in the 2011 Origins Collection. Ghost of Sparta is the one with something to say: it is where Kratos learns his brother Deimos is alive, a thread that now runs forward into Sons of Sparta. Chains of Olympus is a well-made side story from his years of service that leaves the main arc untouched. Both are short, roughly five to seven hours each. Neither has ever appeared on PS4, PS5 or PC, which is the real obstacle.