This was the news i've been waiting for and I should be jumping all over the place and in tears by now, but the absence of Barlog and Jaffe makes me skeptical and I hope this game doesnt end up bombing because its such a great franchise.
Edit: I know its premature to judge at this point, im just saying that the loss of two important people who have been hugely involved in the past 2 games is huge news. This is one of PS3's biggest IP's and im really hoping the team can pull through.
I thought more importantly the team lost:
Charlie Wen (lead concept artist)
Eric Williams (lead combat designer)
Derek Daniels (combat designer)
Scott Seeto (concept artist)
There seems to be problem with how the studio is run, even looking back at God of War 1, the people at Santa Monica never seemed to be a happy bunch. On the other hand, if people are unhappy, they should leave, and if the team isn't happy with certain people, those people should leave. The Santa Monica team seems to have a lot of talented people though, I hope they find a happy and productive culture there after this shake-up.