Sony originally didn’t want another God of War game, and it took one helluva pitch from Cory Barlog to get the go-ahead. But this video, from way back in 2015, is what convinced the company to loosen its purse strings and give the reboot the greenlight. It was shown during a stream overnight, as captured by DualShockers.

There’s a lot less polish in the concept video, as you’d anticipate. However, the core tenets of the title are in place. We see a bearded Kratos exploring Midgard alongside a skin-headed Atreus. Originally, the title’s axe was going to be used as its main menu system to preserve the project’s single-shot ambition, but it was later replaced with a more traditional pause screen.

It’s really interesting to see the release’s roadmap laid out like this, as you can see how the studio got from the pitch video to the E3 2016 reveal and then finally the finished product which is out today. 

[source youtube.com, via dualshockers.com]