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PlayStation fans and opponents rarely agree.

But one particular complaint that has been expressed by all parties.

"Why are there so few games?"

Expensive, story-driven hits from first-party teams have long been the key to the company's hardware popularity.

During the PS4 days, users had a steady stream of cinematic adventures, but the pace has seemed more like a slow drip since 2023's Spider-Man 2.

But, Sony's newest game – Ghost of Yōtei – signals a reversion to its proven premium style.

Why Did It Take So Long?

Sucker Punch's latest game is a follow-up to the earlier samurai-era release Ghost of Tsushima, one of the final high-profile PlayStation-only releases from Sony.

"Games need a significant period to create, so it's an enormous chunk of your career," notes the creative director.

Ghost of Yōtei relocates the action a several hundred miles northward, to the Honshū location, and the era a few hundred years afterward, to the early 17th century.

In this installment, the plot follows the protagonist Atsu, a heroine on a mission to seek vengeance against the group of six – a faction of rulers to blame for her clan's murder.

Building on a prior title to develop from, it's far from a brand new start but, the director clarifies, the undertaking is nevertheless a massive effort.

Merely introducing a new protagonist, for example, requires input from writers, animation artists and design artists, to cite a handful of the positions required.

Behind the scenes there are countless others specialists.

A Vast Team Undertaking

While the developer has approximately 200 team members at its headquarters near Seattle, hundreds more contribute to its projects.

The end credits for Ghost of Tsushima, for example, included approximately over 1,800 people.

A number of those will be from abroad, or from third-party companies that focus in certain specialized disciplines.

"Making a game requires various diverse abilities, from incredibly technical people... to people who are extremely guided by emotions, like our writers," says Fox.

"Furthermore all these groups work in co-ordination. It's similar to conducting an ensemble.

"We need to have all of the elements coming together."

Nate says that a dizzying number of components can be part of a one moment – from soundtrack to the code that ensures leaves drift through the screen at a crucial juncture.

"Each group have to have a awareness of the end goal," concludes the director.

A Shift in Direction

Clear leadership is something the community have criticized Sony of not having in the last few years.

During its prior boss, Jim Ryan, the division initiated work on a dozen live-service projects, referred to as "live-service" games in the business.

Several of the most famous games, such as Epic's battle royale, the sandbox platform and the FPS series, maintain players involved for extended durations and produce substantial revenues of revenue.

The company has had success in the genre with last year's Helldivers II, but a disastrous flop with a certain title, which was taken offline only 14 days after its release.

The company has subsequently scrapped live-service games based on a number of its best-known series, like God of War and The Last of Us.

Targeting the live-service market is a strategy the company has stated is not wholly "going smoothly", but it's said some titles with connected modes, such as the racing series and MLB title MLB: The Show, have done nicely.

The main attractions of its recent marketing event were a new title, a sequel to the 2021 Returnal, and the long-awaited Wolverine game from web-slinger studio Insomniac – each solo games.

Debate and Attention

Major releases can frequently be centers for conflict, as the studio just found when a staff member's remark about the demise of right-wing American activist Charlie Kirk caused a reaction.

The studio finally fired the individual involved, and co-founder Brian Fleming commented that "glorifying or trivializing an individual's killing is a deal-breaker for the company", when asked about it.

A number of political gaming influencers have furthermore attacked Ghost of Yōtei for starring a woman hero.

The director says it was an "atypical selection", but essential to the tale the creators aimed to tell of an unlikely hero resisting traditional expectations.

As the game advances, Atsu's reputation as an Onryō – a revenge-seeking spirit found in Eastern folklore – grows.

"The public assume it can't be this woman would have taken out individuals of the the group without she is a mythical {creature|