FAB_50
Get A Quote
FAB_50
Get A Quote

Santa Monica Studio: The Creation of Kratos and Atreus

The Ask

Nearly a year before God of War reached players, Santa Monica Studio wanted to honor the team building it. The idea was to bring Kratos and his son, Atreus, out of the game and into the studio, built from the same character models the artists had spent years refining.

The studio's standard was the game itself. Pose, proportion and detail had to match the in-game models, right down to Kratos's tattoos and the carvings on the Leviathan Axe. The finish had to read as a classic bronze monument: heavy, aged, and permanent.

SR-iaapa-display-ad-8
CF-God of War- Kratos-Santa Monica Studios-Sculpture-showready-17_converted
CF-God of War- Kratos-Santa Monica Studios-Sculpture-showready

The Solution

We built both figures straight from Santa Monica Studio's source files. That kept the character sculpture locked to the artists' work from the first cut.

  • Carved from the source: We rough-cut both figures on a multi-axis CNC
  • Sculpted by hand: Our sculptors removed tooling marks and added detail before coating. They also recut and re-sculpted the head to get the likeness right.
  • Hard-coated and refined: A two-part urethane hard coat sealed the foam. Our team then sanded, filled, and primed it to bring back any detail that the coating had softened.
  • Updated mid-build: When the studio delivered revised models with new detail, we re-cut to match. The new detail included carvings on Kratos's axe, his full-body tattoos and Atreus's scars.
  • Finished like bronze: Scenic painters finished both statues as aged bronze, using the patina to pull out every carving and scar, then sealed them in clear matte. The finish was approved through two rounds of sample art boards before it touched the statues.
  • Built to move: A custom metal-frame dolly protected the statues in transit and doubles as a base for storage.
  • Installed on site: At the studio's request, our lead scenic supervisor and install crew placed both statues at Santa Monica Studio's Los Angeles offices over a weekend for a surprise appearance to the staff the following workday.

Results

Kratos and Atreus went up at Santa Monica Studio, months before the rest of the world met this version of the pair. The people who created the characters got to stand next to them first.

B-God of War- Kratos-Santa Monica Studios-Sculpture-showready-02
B-God of War- Kratos-Santa Monica Studios-Sculpture-showready-01

Why It Matters

A video game statue has to satisfy two audiences: fans who know the character by heart and the artists who built every polygon. Working from the studio's own files gives the sculpture an accurate foundation. Hand sculpting and a faux bronze statue finish give it the weight and gravity of a cast monument, without the cost, weight, or lead time of poured metal. And when the model changes mid-project, as it did here, a shop that runs scenic fabrication in-house can recut and keep moving.

Built from the source files, finished by hand, and standing in the studio where the game was made.

Next

Request A Quote