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PlayStation enthusiasts and opponents seldom see eye to eye.

Yet one particular grievance that's been expressed by both sides.

"Why are there so few games?"

Expensive, solo hits from in-house developers have historically been the cornerstone to PlayStation's hardware success.

Throughout the last generation days, players had a consistent flow of narrative-driven adventures, but the pace has seemed more like a drip since 2023's Spider-Man 2.

But, Sony's most recent release – Ghost of Yōtei – signals a reversion to its established blockbuster style.

What Took So Long?

The developer's newest project is a follow-up to the 2020 samurai-era title Ghost of Tsushima, which was the final major console-exclusive games from Sony.

"Video games require a long time to create, so it's a major part of your time," notes Fox.

Ghost of Yōtei relocates the setting a hundreds of miles to the north, to the Honshū region, and the time period a few hundred years afterward, to the year 1603.

Now, the narrative follows the protagonist Atsu, a heroine on a mission to seek retribution against the six warlords – a faction of rulers to blame for her family's death.

Using a earlier release to expand upon, it's not quite a completely fresh start but, Nate clarifies, the undertaking is nevertheless a massive challenge.

Just introducing a new hero, for instance, demands work from authors, animation artists and character designers, to cite a handful of the positions participating.

Internally there are countless others specialists.

A Vast Team Undertaking

While Sucker Punch has roughly 200 staff at its headquarters near Washington, hundreds more work on its titles.

The credits for Ghost of Tsushima, for instance, included approximately eighteen hundred names.

Some of these are from other countries, or from third-party studios that specialise in specific technical disciplines.

"Developing a title calls for a wide range of diverse talents, from incredibly technical individuals... to people who are highly focused on narrative, like our writing staff," says Nate.

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

"We need to have all of the components working in unison."

Fox notes that a overwhelming number of components can go into a individual sequence – from soundtrack to the programming that makes leaves drift over the screen at a pivotal moment.

"Every department must have a understanding of the overall direction," says Fox.

A Change in Focus

Strategic vision is an aspect the community have questioned Sony of not having in the last few years.

During its prior leader, the ex-executive, the division began development on a dozen online multiplayer titles, called "continuous" titles in the business.

Some of the most famous examples, such as Fortnite, Roblox and the FPS series, retain users hooked for extended durations and produce massive amounts of revenue.

The company has had positive results in the genre with last year's Helldivers II, but an disastrous flop with another game, which was taken offline just two weeks after its release.

It has afterward scrapped live-service projects inspired by a number of its best-known series, such as God of War and The Last of Us.

Pursuing the online market is a plan PlayStation has admitted is not completely "on track", but it's said some games with multiplayer elements, such as Gran Turismo and baseball game MLB: The Show, have performed well.

The main attractions of its latest showcase event were Saros, a successor to 2021's Returnal, and the highly anticipated Wolverine adventure from superhero studio Insomniac – both story-driven experiences.

Debate and Attention

High-profile releases can also be sources for conflict, as Sucker Punch just discovered when a staff member's remark about the passing of political American personality Charlie Kirk prompted a backlash.

The company ultimately let go the staff member at the center, and founder the studio head said that "glorifying or making light of a person's killing is a red line for the company", when interviewed about it.

Certain political video game personalities have furthermore criticized Ghost of Yōtei for including a female protagonist.

Nate notes it was an "unusual decision", but crucial to the tale the creators wanted to present of an unlikely hero resisting traditional norms.

While the story advances, the character's myth as an supernatural being – a wrathful apparition seen in Japan's mythology – grows.

"People think it can't be a female could have eliminated individuals of the Yōtei Six without she is a supernatural {creature|