Cory Barlog (born September 2, 1975) is an American
video game designer
Video game design is the process of designing the content and rules of video games in the pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the production stage. Some common video game design subdiscipline ...
,
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
, and
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
who is the current creative director of video game development at
Santa Monica Studio
Santa Monica Studio is an American video game developer based in Los Angeles. A first-party studio for Sony Interactive Entertainment, it is best known for developing the ''God of War'' series. The studio was founded in 1999 by Allan Becker ...
. He is best known for his work on
''God of War'' (2005), ''
God of War II
''God of War II'' is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). First released for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) console on March 13, 2007, it is the second inst ...
'' (2007), and
''God of War'' (2018).
Early life
Barlog was born in
Sacramento, California
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, on September 2, 1975, the son of fantasy novelist J. M. Barlog.
Career
In his early career, Barlog worked as a lead animator at
Paradox Development
Midway Studios Los Angeles Inc. (formerly known as Paradox Development) was an American-based video game developer. They are best known for fighting games such as the '' X-Men Mutant Academy'' and ''Backyard Wrestling'' franchises, as well as ...
on ''
Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home'' and ''
X-Men: Next Dimension''. After joining
Santa Monica Studio
Santa Monica Studio is an American video game developer based in Los Angeles. A first-party studio for Sony Interactive Entertainment, it is best known for developing the ''God of War'' series. The studio was founded in 1999 by Allan Becker ...
, he was the lead animator for ''
God of War
A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions.
Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been p ...
'' (2005) and directed ''
God of War II
''God of War II'' is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). First released for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) console on March 13, 2007, it is the second inst ...
'' (2007), for which he won a
BAFTA for his writing work on the game. He also served as game director of ''
God of War III
''God of War III'' is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. First released for the PlayStation 3 on March 16, 2010, it is the fifth installment in the ''God ...
'' (2010) for the first eight months of its development. Although not part of Sony at the time, he helped in writing ''
God of War: Ghost of Sparta'' (2010).
Barlog was a keynote speaker at ''ECAROcon'' 2008, and later worked at
LucasArts
Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as part of a large ...
. In an interview, he announced that he was working on a
tie-in
A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prop ...
video game for the 2015 film ''
Mad Max: Fury Road''. He was reported to be in Sweden to develop the title with
Avalanche Studios, best known for ''
Just Cause''. Despite various gaming websites confirming that the game was in development over the coming years, Barlog had left Avalanche Studios early in its development and the game never materialized.
In March 2012, it was announced that Barlog had joined
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics, Inc. is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California and part of Embracer Group. The studio developed the '' Gex'', ''Legacy of Kain'', and ''Tomb Raider'' series. Founded in 1992 by Madeline Canepa, Judy L ...
to direct the cinematics for the new ''
Tomb Raider
''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, ...
'' game and direct an unannounced game. However, he left the company in April 2013.
In August 2013, it was announced that Barlog would return to Santa Monica Studio. He currently serves as the studio's creative director and directed ''
God of War
A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions.
Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been p ...
'' (2018). For the game, he won the
Game Award for Best Game Direction, while the game itself won
Game of the Year
Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given by various award events and media publications to a video game that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year.
Events and ceremonies
British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards)
...
and the
BAFTA Games Award for Best Game. He also wrote the foreword to the
novelization of the game, which was written by his father. He also produced the sequel ''
God of War Ragnarök
''God of War Ragnarök'' is an action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released worldwide on November 9, 2022, for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, marking the first cros ...
'' (2022).
Games
References
External links
Cory Barlog blogMobyGames profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlog, Cory
American video game designers
People from Sacramento, California
Place of birth missing (living people)
1975 births
Living people