God of War: Sons of Sparta Arrives November 16 on PlayStation 4 With Free Hermes Mode, Erebus Mode, and a Konami Code
The secret lasted less than a week. Just five days after the CUSA57767 database ID for God of War: Sons of Sparta surfaced on the PlayStation Network, publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment alongside developers Santa Monica Studio and Mega Cat Studios have officially confirmed that the 2D action-platformer is launching on PlayStation 4 on November 16, 2026, at midnight local time. The release arrives simultaneously with a free content update for both PS5 and PS4 players.
PlayStation 4 Launch Set for November 16 at $29.99 After Nine Months on PS5
Originally shadow-dropped exclusively for PlayStation 5 on February 12, 2026, the retro-inspired pixel art prequel is now opening up to Sony's massive last-gen install base. Santa Monica Studio Communications Director Grace Orlady shared the news in an official update on the PlayStation Blog.
Pricing on the PlayStation Store matches the existing PlayStation 5 release across both digital tiers:
- Standard Edition: $29.99 USD (€29.99 / £24.99 / ¥3,480).
- Digital Deluxe Edition: $39.99 USD (€39.99 / £32.99 / ¥4,480).
Sony's announcement does not mention any Cross-Buy entitlement or free upgrade path between the existing PS5 executable (PPSA28997) and the new native PS4 version (CUSA57767).
Hermes Mode and Erebus Mode: Everything in the November 16 Free Update
Alongside the PlayStation 4 debut, Mega Cat Studios is deploying a free patch on November 16 across both PS4 and PS5. The update introduces two brand-new game modes that can be selected when starting a new game and choosing a save slot. Once a mode is locked in for a specific save file, it cannot be changed later.
- Hermes Mode: Built specifically for speedrunners racing against the clock, this mode equips players with a dedicated speedrunning toolkit featuring an on-screen split-based timer (tracking segments such as Sparta Calls, The Sculptor's Assignment, A Lost Lion, and Unanswered Questions) and a persistent scoreboard. Players unlock Hermes Mode naturally after beating the campaign once, or they can unlock it immediately on the start menu by entering a classic cheat code: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, L1, R1, Touchpad.
- Erebus Mode: Designed as the ultimate high-stakes test of precision, this mode enforces a ruthless one-hit-kill rule where both Kratos and his enemies fall in a single hit, complete with a live death counter displayed in the top-right corner of the screen.
A Canon Greek Prequel Featuring TC Carson and Bear McCreary
Penned by the writing team behind God of War (2018), the Valhalla expansion, and 21.6-million-selling juggernaut God of War Ragnarök, God of War: Sons of Sparta tells a canon story set during Kratos' brutal youth at the Spartan Agoge. Joined by his brother Deimos, Kratos ventures beyond the walls of Sparta into the wild region of Laconia to track down a missing fellow cadet.
The 2D combat system revolves around customizable spear and shield attachments with dedicated upgrade paths, three core skill trees covering offensive, defensive, and movement abilities, and divine artifacts known as the Gifts of Olympus. Original Greek saga voice actor TC Carson reprises his role as adult Kratos narrating the tale, while Antony Del Rio returns as young Kratos (a role he previously voiced in 2010's God of War: Ghost of Sparta) alongside Scott Menville as young Deimos, all backed by a hybrid retro-orchestral soundtrack composed by Bear McCreary.
The Strategist's Take
Keeping a 2D pixel art Metroidvania locked exclusively to the PlayStation 5 for nine months never made much technical sense to begin with, and I know Arthur "Heimdall" will get a kick out of seeing the indestructible PS4 pick up yet another first-party PlayStation release in late 2026. What really makes this November 16 drop worth coming back for, though, is the care Mega Cat Studios put into the free update. Tucking a PlayStation spin on the Konami Code right into the start screen to unlock the Hermes Mode split timer is a fantastic nod to classic arcade culture. As for Erebus Mode turning every stray satyr swipe into an instant death, I can already picture Maëlle "Kaelen" grinding that mode until her death counter stays at a clean zero.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
