Someone at Sony Santa Monica is on point with the references, because God Of War on PS4 manages to give a nod to Marvel Studio's smash hit Avengers: Infinity War. Even better, the easter egg was discovered within days of the movie's release.
This is obvious spoiler territory, so if you haven't picked up the new God Of War yet or haven't seen Infinity War (bless your soul being on the internet in that case), then turn back now. For those who have seen the movie or don't care about spoilers, read on, and remember that Thanos demands your silence.
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Speaking of Thanos, the reference is actually to him and his all-important gauntlet. It turns out that Kratos can get an Infinity Gauntlet of his own.
God Of War lets Kratos equip different talismans that increase his strength in various ways. These talismans can also be socketed with enchantments that provide various additional benefits. It's all standard video game stuff, until a fan discovered that it wasn't.
One particular talisman, the Shattered Gauntlet of Ages, has a history very similar to that of Thanos' special glove. Polygon reports that a fan on Reddit put the literal pieces together and found that the Shattered Gauntlet of Ages was "deemed too powerful to remain whole, fragments of its former strength lie scattered throughout the realms…” That sounds a lot like the way the Infinity Stones were at the beginning of the movie.
The connection runs deeper, as Kratos can find six enchantments that are basically the Infinity Stones. Here they are with their equivalents:
- Andvari’s Soul (Soul Stone)
- Asgard’s Stone of Existence (Reality Stone)
- Eye of the Outer Realm (Space Stone)
- Ivaldi’s Corrupted Mind (Mind Stone)
- Muspelheim’s Eye of Power (Power Stone)
- Njörd’s Temporal Stone (Time Stone)
The final piece of evidence that this reference was intentional is that the Shattered Gauntlet of Ages gets a special power when fully upgraded and socketed with any three of the stones. It lets Kratos fire a purple beam, just like Thanos does when he wields the Power Stone. He also releases a powerful shockwave.
Pretty good timing on the developer's part. Not to mention the fan that discovered it just as the movie was making headlines. It's almost as if this random discovery was some kind of PR scheme to keep the game being talked about. Or it's just well-timed easter egg. I'll let you be the judge.