God of War may have released almost two years ago, but a hidden Easter egg from Sony Santa Monica's critically acclaimed action-RPG has only now just been discovered, and it's quite the find.

As unearthed by reputed PlayStation modder Lance McDonald, hacking the PS4 game's camera allows the user "to start and stop time freely" even during cutscenes. Doing so during Kratos' early fight with main antagonist Baldur brings a cheeky animation to light.

Absolutely laughing at this, can't wait to see what else is hidden in the game off-camera pic.twitter.com/V3r8dV4gMwMarch 5, 2020

That's right; even after the eponymous God of War has thrown his opponent off a cliff, Baldur's not finished in pissing him off, flipping the bird with both hands as he plummets into the caverns below.

Read more (Image credit: Naughty Dog) The biggest new games of 2020 (and beyond)

Sadly, the lighting obscures Baldur's face from view, but I can only imagine what kind of expression he's pulling with that kind of pose, even if none of us had no idea he had been doing so this entire time.

Presumably, whoever decided to create this little in-joke didn't expect anyone to break the camera and ever find out, but I can imagine an uncomfortable meeting might be taking place at Sony Santa Monica HQ later today.

This is hardly the first time the PlayStation-owned studio has had fun with animating its characters, often recreating a number of internet memes using Kratos as an unwilling muse, and even allowing players to put a smile on his face with God of War's in-game photo mode.

In other news, recent job listings suggest a God of War sequel is indeed already in the works at Sony Santa Monica, presumably as a next-gen exclusive for PS5. Perhaps more hidden Easter eggs can give us a clue as to where the story will take us next...

As a new year and new decade begins with 2020, look back with us at the 100 best games of the decade just gone.