 God of War is an action @-@ adventure video game series loosely based on Greek mythology , originally created by David Jaffe at Sony 's Santa Monica Studio . Debuting in 2005 , the series has become a flagship title for the PlayStation brand , consisting of seven games across multiple platforms . An eighth installment is currently in development ; it will be a soft reboot for the series and will be loosely based on Norse mythology . The series ' story centers around its playable character , Kratos , a Spartan warrior tricked into killing his wife and daughter by his former master , the God of War Ares . Kratos kills Ares at the behest of the goddess Athena and takes his place as the new God of War , but is still haunted by the nightmares of his past . Revealed to be a demigod and the son of Zeus , the King of the Olympian Gods who betrays Kratos , the Spartan then seeks revenge against the gods for their machinations . What follows is a series of attempts to free himself from the influence of the gods and the Titans and exact revenge . 
