The reveal of God of War Laufey has sparked a vociferous debate coming out of State of Play, and while the internet has plenty of opinions about this first game in the franchise to star Faye as the main character, criticism has also come from an unexpected sauce: Domino’s Pizza.
I want to start by noting that IGN spoke with God of War Laufey’s game director Ariel Lawrence and Santa Monica Studio creative director Cory Barlog ahead of the reveal to discuss why the developer went with Faye as the main character this time instead of Kratos, and we’ve got an explainer on Faye herself if you need a catch-up on her story. So if you need some context before reading on, IGN has you covered.
Perhaps the most predictable response to God of War Laufey’s reveal is complaints around the fact Kratos isn’t the main character. And now, Domino’s Pizza UK decided to wade into the discourse, leaning into complaints that God of War Laufey’s protagonist happens to be a woman by tweeting: “God of War game with no Kratos = Pepperoni Passion with no pepperoni.” The tweet has had 4.1 million views so far.
(As an aside, we actually do see Kratos in God of War Laufey — anyone who watched the gameplay reveal, below, would know that).
Replies to the tweet piled in, including many slamming Domino’s for jumping on the bandwagon. “Shut the f**k up Domino’s Pizza UK,” replied evan loves worf. “Why is dominos pizza uk tweeting like a 45 year old chud,” asked M1das. “Stay in your lane,” suggested John Bartle. “This is why you’ll never be Little Caesars,” commented Daron in perhaps the most devastating putdown of all.
It’s worth noting that the Domino’s Pizza UK Twitter account has a reputation for spicy takes. Rage-baiting is what it does, particularly when it comes to our side of the pond’s football. For example, after English Premier League winners Arsenal lost the Champions League final to PSG, Domino’s Pizza UK tweeted: “We’ve sold 802,137,914 pizzas since Arsenal won a European trophy.” That, as you’d expect, riled up Arsenal fans while delighting fans of other clubs, which is of course exactly what Domino’s hoped to achieve.
Similarly, Domino’s Pizza UK is rage-baiting with its God of War post, and based on the millions of impressions the tweet has seen so far, it’s mission accomplished. Still, perhaps it didn’t expect Sony Santa Monica to respond with the simple: “ok thanks for the feedback, dominos pizza corporate account.” The developer’s tweet has seen 3 million impressions and 76,000 likes and counting. At the time of this article’s publication, the Domino’s tweet had 64,000 likes and over 1 million more views.
Social media “brandter” aside, there is a significant amount of positivity about God of War Laufey from across the internet, including from IGN readers. Many are excited by the prospect of Kratos’ dead wife having to deal with the fallout from her husband’s god-killing exploits in the afterlife, in a story that runs parallel to the events of the 2018 God of War and Ragnarok. And Sony Santa Monica has insisted it’s not done with Kratos God of War games, so we know those are still planned. I imagine Domino’s Pizza UK will move on from God of War soon enough, especially with the World Cup around the corner. Much more rage-bait potential there.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
