God of War Fans Are Failing to Find Sons of Sparta's Supposed 2-Player Co-Op Mode

Players are having a hard time finding God of War: Sons of Sparta‘s co-op mode, which is likely because it doesn’t seem to exist, despite the feature having been listed on the game’s official store page. While plenty of fans have been excited by the surprise announcement of God of War: Sons of Sparta, those looking to enjoy its supposed multiplayer functions may be out of luck.

God of War: Sons of Sparta was shadow-dropped on players following the PlayStation State of Play live-stream presentation on February 12. Breaking from the franchise’s traditional mechanics, Sons of Sparta is a prequel set in Ancient Greece with 2D side-scrolling gameplay. It might not be the God of War game fans were expecting to see, but there has been a significant positive reaction following its announcement, with plenty of players ready to dive in immediately and get a look at Kratos’ early life and years of training.

Every God Of War Game, Ranked

Santa Monica Studio’s God of War has produced many great games. Naturally, some of Kratos’ bloody PlayStation adventures are better than others.

God of War Sons of Sparta Players Can’t Find the Co-Op Option

However, one feature that was promoted on the game’s official PlayStation Store page is evading players, as they’ve been unable to figure out how to enable the co-op multiplayer option that was promised. Multiple reports from around the internet indicate that the store page had listed two-player co-op as one of the new game’s features for several hours after its official release, but those words no longer seem to appear anywhere on the page. Rather, the game’s official description on the store page paints a picture of Kratos’ tragic past, participating in harsh Spartan training and mounting a rescue operation to save a missing friend.

Given that the store page’s wording has been altered, it seems likely that information about the co-op gameplay option was an error, but fans of the series had already offered up multiple theories as to where it might be hiding before those words were removed. Some fans have speculated that players may need to complete the entire game in solo mode before unlocking the ability to dive back in with two-player action. Since it’s also listed on the store page as a fully offline game, some players have expected that couch co-op would be enabled, but plugging a second controller into their PS5s has produced no results. Still others believe that co-op multiplayer may be added to God of War: Sons of Sparta in a future update.

god of war sons of sparta kratos and deimos

Even with the store page no longer listing co-op multiplayer as one of the game’s features, it’s not hard to see why fans might think it would be included. Several shots from the trailer presented at the February State of Play feature two different spear-wielding characters jumping and battling monsters across multiple different scenes. The store page confirms the second warrior is God of War series character Deimos, who is also Kratos’ brother, and reports from players indicate that he shows up during boss fights as a computer-controlled NPC. Deimos was first mentioned in the original God of War on the PlayStation 2, with an explanation that he was taken by the gods at a young age, and he made his first actual appearance in 2010’s God of War: Ghost of Sparta on the PlayStation Portable.

The apparent mistake on Sony’s website has angered at least a few players, some of whom said they bought the game specifically because they believed they would be able to play it with a friend or family member. In response, multiple players are asking for refunds to be issued. Although a let-down to fans, the disappointment over the lack of co-op play in God of War: Sons of Sparta could push Santa Monica Studios to redirect its future efforts beyond the single-player experience, especially with images of the canceled God of War multiplayer game from Bluepoint Games still a recent memory.