God of War’s20th Anniversary has been disappointing to say the least. Many were expecting a Greek Saga collection for PS5, allowing modern players to experience much of the classicGod of Wargames natively on the newest PlayStation console, but that wasn’t the case.God of War 1is not only one of the best games on the PS2, butone of the best games of all time, and it still holds up to this day.
A significant part of what made the title so legendary was itsall-time great phone number Easter eggs. It was active for nearly two decades, but Sony destroyed it beyond repair, and what’s left is not right for one of the best games in PlayStation history. Frankly, I can’t think aboutGod of War 1the same since.
God Of War 1’s Legendary Easter Egg
One Of The Best Easter Eggs In Gaming
The most memorable and greatest secret inGod of War 1had to be the hidden phone numbers. You can discover two of them, one by beating the game on the ridiculously hard God mode, and the other by destroying two statues in the Throne room at the end. The latter takes a ridiculous time to do, but if you found and called this number all by yourself back in the day,it must have been truly incredible.
For nearly 20 years, anyone could have called these numbers, and it was awesome to show to friends.
One of the phone numbers features a personal message from Kratos, while the other includes a hilarious scene of Kratos meeting up withGod of Warcreator David Jaffe, culminating in Kratos brutally murdering him. According to David Jaffe on theGameTrailersPop Fictionshow, this Easter egg was created to give a reward to players outside of the actual game itself,inspired by Activision’s old patch systemfor high scores.
Even though David Jaffe disliked players who failed to unlock the numbers but called them anyway, that’s whatmade this Easter egg so great. For nearly 20 years, anyone could have called these numbers, and it was great to show friends when discussing gaming. There was no need to bring up an internet browser, as you could just dial in the number.
With these phone number messages being so cool and funny, it made the fact that they were so easily accessible that much better. It’san iconic aspectof this 2005 classic, and I was hoping it would last forever, but that wasn’t the case.
The Numbers Were Shut Down In 2024
A Terrible Shame
Sometime in late 2024, it was reported, and I can confirm for myself, that the twoGod of Warphone numbers were disconnected. If you called them, you would get a “your call cannot be completed as dialed” message. While this seemed inevitable, it felt like such bad timing to disconnect these numbersjust months away from the 20th AnniversaryofGod of War.
Even at the time when the numbers were first disconnected, I was seriously concerned about what would eventually happen later.
Since the timing was right, theGod of Warcommunity speculated that perhaps these numbers would go active again once the anniversary actually came, perhapswith brand-new messages to celebrate 20 years. Early in 2025,rumors were rampant about a Greek Saga collectionfor PS5, and surely the numbers would be updated then, or maybe we would get brand-new numbers.
All of those rumors turned out to be false, and all we got was aDark Odyssey update forGod of War: Ragnarok. The skins included were really cool, but this isn’t how you celebrate 20 years ofGod of War, one ofthe biggest franchises in PlayStation history.
Even at the time when the numbers were first disconnected, I was seriously concerned about what would eventually happen later. Phone numbers in video games often resultin naughty stuff today, andGod of Waris no exception.
One Of The Numbers Is Naughty
The Gods Have Truly Blessed You, Kratos
When the numbers were first disconnected, I thought calling them in the future would result in either a phone sex hotline or a scam for a FREE Caribbean Cruise for two, andthe former ended up happening. Sometime aroundGod of War’s20th Anniversary in March, calling the number you received from beating God mode now results in a phone sex hotline.
The number you get for destroying the two statues still results in a “cannot be completed as dialed” message, but it’s seemingly only a matter of time until that changes.
This usually happens with old video game phone numbers, but the curse of 1-800 Phone Sex stings especially hard for such a masterpiece likeGod of War 1. Replaying the game 20 years later, I can still firmly state that it’sone of the best games I’ve ever played, and Sony’s mishandling of this sacred aspect of the 2005 classic is a massive tragedy.
The original game that started it all deserves better than one of its iconic aspects becoming a sex hotline now.God of War 1is still playable on PS5, although only via PS Plus cloud streaming, and new players maycome across this now saucy Easter egg.
It’s astonishing to me that Sony left these all-time great Easter egg phone numbers to be taken so brazenly, when they should have been sacred. The originalGod of Waris still an all-time great video game, but Sony’s destruction of these iconic Easter eggs does take away from the title a bit for me.
