• At last night’s Game Awards 2023, Santa Monica Studios unexpectedly revealed a trailer for a piece of God of War Ragnarok DLC.
• Valhalla is an epilogue to last year’s game and will force players to commit to specific builds per run attempt.
• God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla has five difficulty settings, with the highest being Show Me Mastery.

Last night was the annual Game Awards, and while the 2023 edition did not feature obnoxious stage interlopers, there were a few surprises. One of these came from Santa Monica Studios, which revealed a trailer for God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla.

What is perhaps even more surprising is that Valhalla is a free DLC that will be accessible to those who have purchased the nigh perfect 2022 title from next week. 12th December to be more precise.

The developers at Santa Monica describe this free DLC as being inspired by the roguelite genre, as each run through the combat filled shores of Valhalla will require players to commit to a specific build per run, while still having access to the full range of upgrades, armour, combos, and weapons before doing making their picks.

“Each attempt in Valhalla will encourage you to master different aspects of Kratos’ arsenal as you face new combinations of enemies and some surprises along the way,” writes Grace Orlady, lead community manager at Santa Monica Studio, in a blog post.

“In Valhalla, defeat in combat is not the end of a warrior’s spirit. If Kratos falls, he will reawaken outside the doors ready for the next try. During each attempt, you will learn and adapt to the challenges Valhalla has to offer. The more you overcome, the more resources you’ll gain that can be put towards permanent upgrades that affect both Kratos and even Valhalla itself,” she adds.

Along with being inspired by the roguelite genre, God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla will feature five difficulty settings that have been specifically tuned to the gameplay of the DLC.

Here, each difficulty setting increases the rewards you’ll gain from battle, and will allow you to change freely among them between attempts. The highest difficulty setting will be Show Me Mastery.

It is also worth pointing out that accessing Valhalla is not dependent on being in the epilogue of the 2022 game, which it billed as being a wholly separate experience according to Santa Monica. “You don’t need to worry about going in without certain upgrades, equipment, or story progress,” Orlady confirms.

A pleasant surprise before the festive season truly kicks off, we’re now sure what many fans of last year’s game will be doing over the coming weeks and months when this free DKC lands next week.