The trailer for God of War was a high point at E3 last year, showing off a game that seemed to show Kratos adapting to life after the original trilogy. Between the trailer and gameplay footage that was shown off at the event, gamers got a good sense of how Kratos was struggling to connect with a son who was more like his mother than the god-hunting warrior who now had to raise him.
One thing that wasn’t revealed at that time was the boy’s name. This is a mystery no longer, though, as a fan has discovered the name in a pretty unexpected place.
The name was revealed thanks to Sony releasing a live recording of the E3 Overture gameplay music in celebration of the E3 trailer reaching 15 million views on YouTube. The discovery was made by a God of War fan named Fabiano Banin, who noticed that a tag in the mp3 file stated that it was for “An introduction to Kratos and Atreus.” Taking to Twitter, he asked the game’s director and composer who Atreus was and if he was the previously unnamed son of Kratos. God of War director Cory Barlog tweeted back, confirming that Atreus was the boy’s name and congratulating Banin on a “nice discovery.”
Kratos son’s name is Atreus, nice discovery @fbanin https://t.co/CURm5wzAGD, download @bearmccreary #E3 Overture https://t.co/Xm8wIRA4cb pic.twitter.com/AD8YORwHxb— Cory Barlog (@corybarlog) January 13, 2017
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It’s not uncommon for details about games to be found in various data files, and soundtrack music has given away details about games and movies on multiple occasions. In this case, it doesn’t seem like there was any attempt made to conceal the name… if it was meant to be too big of a secret, the mp3 tag could have simply read “An introduction to Kratos and his son.” Given the wording, it was only a matter of time before someone discovered it once the E3 Overture mp3 was released as a download.
What’s possibly more interesting is that Atreus is an obviously Greek name. This could be simply a result of Kratos’ origin, but given how the game is supposed to focus on Norse mythology it could also indicate that we’ll see Greek traditions mingling with Norse gods and legends. While this is likely reading too much into the name, the idea of Kratos trying to raise his son in the old ways while facing off against a different breed of god and monster could add an interesting complexity to the game.
Being God of War, of course, some players would probably prefer that the family drama be kept to a minimum. Regardless of the origins of his name, many players are likely looking forward to teaching Atreus how to battle monsters and kill gods like his father did before him. It may not be the bonding that Atreus was hoping for, but at least it’s something he and his father can do together.
Next: 15 Things We Want to See in the New God of War
God of War will be released on the PlayStation 4, though a release date has not been set.
Source: Cory Barlog (via GameRant)
