God of War 4 will launch in September 2012, a UK game magazine has claimed.

PSM3 (via CVG) attributed its information to a source who "works closely with the God of War universe".

Last month a job advertisement suggested developer Sony Santa Monica might implement multiplayer into the God of War series.

God of War III launched early last year as a visual showcase for the PlayStation 3.

Sony Santa Monica has said it did not mark the end of the action-packed blockbuster series.

"This is not the end of God of War," studio boss John Hight said. "This is definitely the end of the trilogy, but we're [going to] continue to do God of War games.

"We're [going to] be very careful about what we do. We're the keepers of the franchise and we don't want to see it ruined or polluted."

The PlayStation 3 exclusive enjoyed a 9/10 in Eurogamer's God of War III review, in which Christian Donlan wrote: "There are no branching paths, no complex decisions, and no multiplayer modes, but this particular game is all the better for it, since the results are rich and focused rather than drawn-out and a little ragged."