God of War’s shift to Norse culture blew many gamers away and vastly exceeded Sony’s expectations. The game inspired some amazing cosplay, comics, and even a novel. As we just found out, a single vote altered the game’s development and the future of the God of War franchise.

At Devcom in Cologne, God of War director Cory Balrog discussed the game’s development process. Balrog reported that the team considered four different mythologies for the game: Egyptian, Hindu, Inca, and Norse. The developers narrowed the choice down to Norse and Egyptian, but a problem remained: the team was split right down the middle.

The final decision fell to Balrog, who chose the Norse setting we have grown to love. The rest is video game history.

Balrog proved that the discussion went far beyond the initial stages and showed off some concept art at Devcom. One image depicted a massive sphinx and a pair of masked warriors. Kratos, father of the year that he is, patiently watches as Atreus picks off one enemy. It’s hard to spot many changes so Kratos’ armor, but the differences become apparent in his son’s apparel.

I wonder if Assassin’s Creed Origins played any role in the voting results. Viking games remain a staple in the medium, but AC Origins is more or less the defining game on Egypt. Balrog and his team may have not wanted to seem like they were riffing off of a competitor’s success. Of course, it’s certainly possible that the devs simply felt more familiar with the Norse mythos. The possibility remains that Kratos will travel to other locations in the future, so maybe we’ll eventually see an Egyptian installment.

You can read more of Balrog’s thoughts on the development process on his Twitter.

What do you think of the considered mythologies? Do you think we’ll see a God of War game take place in any of them? Which other ancient civilizations would you want the franchise to take on? Sound off in the comments, and follow DFTG on Twitter and Facebook for more gaming news!

Thanks, Dual Shockers.