Santa Monica Studio has announced a special bonus for God of War fans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise, but it’s falling far short of players’ expectations. While God of War fans on PlayStation can now claim a free avatar to be used on their PlayStation Network profiles, it’s clear that a lot of fans were expecting more to mark the momentous occasion.

Originally introduced as a pure action-adventure series before incorporating action-RPG elements later into its run, the first God of War game was released exclusively on PlayStation 2 for North American audiences on March 22, 2005, with a European release following a little over three months later. The series saw four home console games with Kratos under the Greek pantheon, including the prequel God of War: Ascension, before shifting the God of War franchise’s focus to Norse Mythology with 2018’s God of War and 2022’s God of War Ragnarok.

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To commemorate the 20th anniversary, a special new free avatar is now available on the PlayStation Network. Released on March 20, the free avatar had been announced on the PlayStation Blog six days ago along with items for players on PC in the Steam Points shop, though that announcement didn’t reveal any information on what the avatar would look like. The result has been disappointing to a lot of players, with the now-released avatar simply showing a stylized gold Greek omega — a symbol that has been associated with the franchise since its first game — laid against a plain black background.

PlayStation Store Codes for God of War 20th Anniversary Avatar

• Americas: F27X-L946-8PTH
• Europe/Australia: HMCJ-N3JM-4TT2
• Japan: 6F3K-RR8X-2KEM
• Korea: HRLN-L4AG-88GD
• Asia: 8RC3-DEFT-NJPC

While there is no charge to redeem the free avatar, its reveal has left a lot of players feeling deflated on such a special day for the franchise. Several fans have posted responses of displeasure to the big reveal, with reactions ranging from GIFs of a thumbs down motion to comments of “That’s it?” From the reactions, it seems that many were expecting the official confirmation of a new God of War game in development at Santa Monica Studio or remasters of the Greek Saga that covered the earliest games in the mainline series.

Recent news about the game franchise hasn’t all been so negative. On March 20, God of War Ragnarok rolled out a new patch featuring the Dark Odyssey Collection, an in-game bundle filled with throwback items that honor earlier entries in the series as a way of celebrating 20 years of God of War. Along with that bundle, the patch also introduced a system for modifying the appearance of weapon and shield attachments in the game.

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November 9, 2022

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M For Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language