God of War Ragnarok is a wonderful and incredibly beautiful game, capable of extracting a tear from the eye on more than a few occasions, but it’s this newest piece of news that’s even more likely to tug on the heartstrings than the core father, son narrative itself. Jake Snipes and Sam Handrick both worked on the game, but sadly, Snipes wasn’t there to see the game launch, having passed away in 2020 due to epilepsy. In a beautiful gesture from Handrick and the Santa Monica Studio team, a loving questline was added to Ragnarok to celebrate the life of Snipes and the friendship, and love shared with Handrick.
This week, Handrick took to Twitter to share the story of Snipes, and the God Of War Ragnarok questline, “Across The Realms.” Across a large tweet thread, Henrick explains the questline and his love of his friend Snipes, saying,
There’s something in God of War Ragnarok which is the most special to me. I got to pitch it and the team made it into everything I could have hoped. I had hoped to wait for some time to talk about it but want to share it now, just in case. It’s the Ballad of Jari and Somr.
It’s not a spoiler for the main story, but is a side-quest ‘Favor’ you can discover, so feel free to seek it out yourself first. You may have noticed the first sign of it in these hearts scattered across the realms. The story of them goes back to a man I love more than anything.
I met Jake Snipes when he joined Santa Monica Studio in 2019. We worked on God of War Ragnarok together, both loved Carly Rae Jepsen and Death Note, and soon we become really close friends. Before too long we become more than that. Jake was and is a shining light in my life.
I was madly in love with him, and he with me. So madly that we decided to take a grand road trip across the whole United States together, just visiting theme parks. We stayed in on weekends to play games together, adventured around LA and California. I began to feel truly home.
We picked up baking on a whim, and started to bring anything we made into the Studio. Soon it became our reputation around the team. We even happened to win one of the Studio’s pie-baking competitions. I loved creating with him. Whether it was games or the sweetest desserts.
We’d talk about how much we’d love to leave some symbol of us in Ragnarok. Some indication within this game that had been the reason we’d first met, our first game made together. He once suggested simply a heart, with our initials in Norse runes, carved into this world we made.
Jake died in 2020, due to his epilepsy. I was heartbroken. I still am. I will always be. I spent months hardly wanting to be alive. But when I returned to Ragnarok I wanted it to be everything he deserved. And I hoped I could leave some piece of him within it.
I will always be indebted to Eric Williams. Jake and I used to talk to him every week, and each week Eric would suggest a new LA spot for us to explore together that weekend. When I returned to work I asked Eric if we could include a memorial to Jake. He made it so much more.
I told Eric and the team about Jake’s suggestion of our initials carved into a heart. And he and the team returned with that and something even more special. A story of two men who find each other in an often cruel world, and who find a place to belong simply with each other.
I wanted this story to be one many queer people know: journeying through a world that doesn’t always understand you to find a place that truly feels like home. And sometimes that place is simply a person. And something as simple as a recipe can be a link back to that home.
This fire never stops burning. Through the coldest days, through the nights you don’t want to live through. It will stand in this world we at @SonySantaMonica created for all of time, carrying the story of a man in whom I found something unnamable. Something I still carry now.
There are too many people on the team who made this happen to list them all here. But to name a few… I owe Eric Williams, @leftie, @DiMentoXP, @mattsophos, @brettmoody44, @KathleenTigue, and many more people more than I can ever say
I hope you’ll all find time to look for that eternal campfire, and to help make a recipe that feels like home.
Once you’ve taken the time to wipe the tears from your eyes, fire up God Of War Ragnarok and go and engage in the most beautiful gesture you’ll find in a video game this year.
