🔗 Share this article

Sony enthusiasts and opponents infrequently see eye to eye.

But there's one complaint that's been voiced by all parties.

"What happened to the games?"

High-cost, single-player hits from first-party studios have historically been the key to the company's gaming success.

During the PlayStation 4 days, fans enjoyed a steady stream of story-rich games, but that has appeared as a drip since 2023's Spider-Man 2.

But, the company's newest title – Ghost of Yōtei – represents a comeback to its proven blockbuster style.

Why Did It Take So Long?

The developer's latest game is a follow-up to the earlier feudal Japan-set adventure Ghost of Tsushima, among the final major console-exclusive titles from Sony.

"Video games require a significant period to develop, so it's an enormous chunk of your life," explains the creative director.

Ghost of Yōtei moves the story a several hundred miles to the north, to the Honshū location, and the time period a hundreds of years later, to 1603.

Now, the plot centers on a character named Atsu, a heroine on a mission to exact revenge against the Yōtei Six – a band of warlords to blame for her clan's death.

Using a earlier release to expand upon, it's far from a completely fresh start but, Fox clarifies, the project is still a enormous undertaking.

Simply having a fresh protagonist, for example, requires contribution from writers, animation artists and concept artists, to cite a handful of the positions required.

Behind the scenes there are countless others specialists.

A Massive Crew Undertaking

Even though the studio has about 200 employees at its base near the Seattle area, numerous others contribute to its titles.

The credits for Ghost of Tsushima, for case, listed approximately 1,800 names.

A number of these are from overseas, or from external studios that excel in specific technical disciplines.

"Making a title requires a wide range of different abilities, from deeply technical experts... to people who are extremely guided by feelings, like our writing staff," explains Fox.

"And the various departments operate in co-ordination. It's like conducting an orchestra.

"You must have all of the pieces working in unison."

Fox states that a dizzying variety of factors can contribute to a one moment – from music to the programming that makes particles blow over the environment at a pivotal moment.

"Every department have to have a understanding of the end goal," says the director.

A Shift in Focus

A sense of direction is something the community have accused the brand of lacking in the last few years.

During its previous head, the ex-executive, the branch initiated development on 12 live-service titles, called "continuous" experiences in the industry.

A few of the most famous examples, such as Epic's battle royale, Roblox and the FPS series, retain users involved for months and earn massive sums of income.

The company has had positive results in the genre with last year's Helldivers II, but a disastrous flop with another game, which was discontinued just 14 days after its release.

The company has afterward cancelled live-service titles using several of its biggest franchises, including God of War and The Last of Us.

Targeting the multiplayer arena is a approach Sony has acknowledged is not wholly "going smoothly", but it's said some titles with connected elements, such as Gran Turismo and baseball game MLB: The Show, have performed well.

The stars of its recent marketing presentation were Saros, a successor to the earlier Returnal, and the long-awaited Marvel's Wolverine title from Spider-Man developer Insomniac – the two solo games.

Debate and Scrutiny

Big games can also be magnets for controversy, as Sucker Punch not long ago found when a developer's comment about the passing of right-wing activist figure the individual caused a outcry.

The developer ultimately dismissed the employee involved, and co-founder the studio head commented that "applauding or trivializing an individual's death is a red line for us", when asked about it.

Some conservative gaming personalities have furthermore criticized Ghost of Yōtei for starring a female protagonist.

Fox says it was an "unusual decision", but key to the tale the developers aimed to present of an unlikely hero defying traditional expectations.

When the story unfolds, Atsu's reputation as an vengeful spirit – a vengeful apparition found in Japanese mythology – spreads.

"Players think there's no way a woman could have eliminated figures of the Yōtei Six except if she is a mythical {creature|