God of War Laufey was in the works for nearly a decade, Deborah Ann Woll reveals

Deborah Ann Woll, who plays Faye in God of War Laufey, has revealed that director Cory Barlog first pitched the project to her back in 2018 — meaning the game has been in development, or at least in concept, for close to a decade. Woll kept quiet about it the entire time.

Barlog apparently had a clear vision from the start. When he brought Woll in to discuss the 2018 God of War, he already had a poster for the Laufey game featuring her character alongside a talking cube. That cube is now Phranque, voiced and motion-captured by Jack Quaid using a cube-shaped harness, and Woll says it has been part of the lore since day one. "It's wild. Like when Cory brought me in to talk about doing Ragnarok and showed me the 2018 game, he already had a poster for the Laufey game with me and a cube. A cube that's been there since the beginning. It's deeply a part of the lore," she told CGM.

God of War Laufey marks a major shift for the series — it's the first entry where Kratos doesn't take the lead role. Woll says Faye's story opens the door to more diverse narratives within the God of War universe, with themes she describes as universal. The previous games had been quietly building toward this moment, and Woll admits the reveal trailer left her jaw on the floor.

The game still doesn't have a release date, but the lengthy gameplay reveal has already sparked plenty of fan theories — from which deceased gods might appear to what Faye's sword could be hinting at about the story's darker turns.