Cory Barlog, the game’s director, has revealed some new details about the upcoming PlayStation 4-exclusive.

The franchise, which has over 20 million sales, will expand in early 2018. Barlog told Polygon the following: „I knew right away that I did not want to make an open-world game. I did not want to make a game in which people felt like they were doing a checklist of things. Kratos and Atreus have a goal that takes them all over the world, but always just off in the distance, there’s something that catches your eye. It’s this idea that we’re going to reward people for being curious or looking around. We’re not ever going to put them in a position outside of that core experience, forcing them to do something.

It’s the idea of seeing this little cave entrance off in the distance, boating over there, and going inside the cave, and coming out and seeing an entire level you never knew was there. It’s that feeling of being rewarded for your curiosity. It’s just huge. That’s why I play video games. It’s about existing in a world.

We guide you in the game on this path, like holding your kid when he’s riding a bike for the first time. Then we open the world up by letting go with one hand. The world is a little bit bigger, a little scarier, you’re wobbling a little bit. But right when you start to feel steady, then we open up the world, even more, both hands off. You’re just free to go. And that’s still not even the last time. We open it up even further, so everything becomes bigger. You’re never required to go over and do anything. You’re always encouraged that this is your goal. But, hey, if you want, explore all these other things. It’s such a vast mythology. It’s so wonderful.”

So, you can stray off the road to discovering things, but you won’t be experiencing a real open-world experience. How will this approach work? We’ll see in early 2018, only on PlayStation 4. At least now we know how Kratos‘ son is called: Atreus.