Sucker Punch just announced a new title called Ghost of Yotei. However, the creative directors of the game revealed plans to expand the Ghost of Tsushima property much further than that.
Speaking with The New York Times (via VGC), directors Nate Fox and Jason Connell confirmed Ghost of Yotei is the start of an official franchise for the Ghost series. This will include “at least one movie and other spinoffs.” Barring the confusion of labeling Ghost of Yotei a spinoff rather than a sequel, this tracks with other PlayStation video games. After all, Horizon Zero Dawn is spinning off into Lego Horizon Adventures (which will even launch on Nintendo Switch), and God of War is heading to Amazon Prime as a TV series.
Related: Who Plays the Main Character in Ghost of Yotei?
Connell and Fox always imagined a successor to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, and the fact the title sold 13 million copies lent credence to that. Fox states, “When we started working on a sequel, the first question we asked ourselves is ‘What is the DNA of a Ghost game? It is about transporting the player to the romance and beauty of feudal Japan.” The Sucker Punch team visited Japan for inspiration, and Mount Yotei lit a spark in the group. Connell reflected on this, saying, “I sat there for two hours just staring at the mountain. It was stunning.”
It is safe to assume all these creative outlets led to Sucker Punch’s decision to grow Ghost of Tsushima into a saga. Film-wise, video games run the gamut of being terrible or pretty good. It will be interesting to see where Ghost of Tsushima falls on that scale. I’m more excited about the spinoffs mentioned. Will there be DLC for Ghost of Yotei like the first title had? Is Sucker Punch planning more games in the coming years, each cast in a different era of Japanese history? I guess we will see if the gamble pays off or if the gaming public feels like this is all oversaturation.