Pre-orders just got announced by Sony Santa Monica, and that unleashed quite an interesting stir amongst the players. They basically announced this limited edition controller to celebrate 20 years of Kratos killing gods, and, instead of excitement, there was complete and utter disappointment in the comment section. The controller is simply white, with a red stripe, and gamers are mercilessly attacking it for being lazy, uninspired, and totally wasting an opportunity for such a huge milestone.
So, what is this controller all about? It really is just a PlayStation 5 DualSense controller sold as a limited edition item with a matte white base with a streak of red color running across the top of the touchpad. That is all there is to the design. And $85? Some guys feel like they are being totally mugged over. A user named xPlOzZiOn decided to chime in and said, “$85 to put a red stripe on a controller? We can do better!” They’re definitely not alone. The comment section is filled with others expressing its own version of this same thought, “Such a lazy controller… A wasted opportunity,” said Candy; and Mateo said, “This is the worst limited edition controller i have ever seen.” Feels.
But really, it isn’t the controller that’s the problem. It’s what it stands for—or more importantly, what it doesn’t represent. Players were expecting something, anything really, for the 20th anniversary related to the original Greek saga games. Things like remakes, remasters, anything that would get the classics onto modern systems. Instead, they got a controller. Hence the comments demanding. “We want games, not controller,” says Станислав Станев. “Shame on the 20th anniversary, I am missing so much PS3 with GOW1,2 and PS3’s GOW3.” GoW4Ever was much more straightforward: “No thanks. Fuck this trash. Give us actual OG trilogy games to play for 20th anniversary. That’s more deserving for fans than this.” Oof.
Then again, it’s those technical glitches they’ve been pointing out. VamosReal brought up the stick drift issues DualSense has been plagued with, joking, “Does it come with stick drift? All my 9 PS5 DualSense controllers got stick drift!!” So now that adds another dimension to their complaints on the design. And then there’s the whole “limited edition” aspect. EzrA remarked, “knowing this is supposed to be an anniversary edition makes it look a thousand times worse…” because the design feels so minimal for such a big event.
There are some who, in the middle of all this negativity, love the proposition. SirD7x7 mentioned pre-ordering theirs with fire and sword emojis, so there still are some folks hyped up. And José Tajra said that he is hyped for pre-orders in Brazil. The minority are a really small number, though. The overall mood is that Sony Santa Monica is out of touch. GhostWP3 said, “Management is really out of touch with their consumer base huh” while Bconman44 wondered, “Who green lit this design?”—that pretty much sums up the confusion.
What is really fascinating is how this ties into greater hope. Players aren’t just mad over a controller; they’re using this as a soapbox for begging for remakes. Comments like “We need god of war 2 remake” from OjO and “Santa Monica Admin can you suggest to the team that we want a remake of God Of War 1 & God Of War 2” from JDCruz1025 indicate that the community’s priorities lie elsewhere. They want to relive those epic Greek myths on PS5, not buy a slightly recolored pad. Even Console Gamer suggested, “This should come with PlayStation 5/pro face plates and a God of War collection Saga remastered for PlayStation 4 / 5.” Which honestly would’ve been much better.
So now it’s silent and just waiting for news about the new game. Marlon0072023 bluntly asks, “New game when?????” because yeah, it has been really quite a long time since Ragnarok. That growing silence is adding to the frustration. It really feels like the Supremacy controller is supposed to stanch the floodgates while in reality, they’re practically crying out for some massive content. Addy posted a picture of a Sad Kratos face with captions that read, “This is what I see when I look at this control, Sad Kratos.” That is the mood.
So where does this leave us? At this point, Sony’s limited edition controller had gone on sale for pre-orders only to catch an avalanche of negative reviews. One would consider that a classic example of a company not reading the room. Gamers wanted a celebration of God of War’s history, especially the classics, and instead got a merch drop that feels dangerously half-baked. Whether or not this will affect sales is a whole other question, but the voice of the community is loud and clear: they want games, not accessories.
And until Sony delivers those remakes or new titles, this controller will probably be remembered as that thing that pissed off everyone on their 20th anniversary. Kinda sad, really, for a franchise that’s all about rage and epic battles. Maybe next time they’ll listen.
