Ghost of Yotei
Sucker Punch
We are now starting to get our first sales numbers in from PlayStation’s Ghost of Yotei, the Tsushima successor that so far, is doing around as well as its predecessor, though in very different market conditions.
The data we have is from the GSD European charts (via TheGameBusiness), which has Yotei debuting at #2, behind only megahit EA Sports FC at #1. The sales are in line with what Tsushima did back in 2020. It represents Sony’s biggest launch since Spider-Man 2 and has outperformed a hit like Helldivers 2.
Tsushima and Yotei being even is impressive because the market has changed since 2020, and Yotei is launching in different conditions. Namely, by 2020, the PS4 had sold around 115 million units. As it stands, PS5 has sold 80 million units, so it’s a smaller playerbase to work with. Additionally, Yotei costs $70 when Tsushima cost $60 and is launching in a time when consumer spending power has fallen. Tsushima was also released as the pandemic was escalating, and video game sales began to soar with stay-at-home orders on the rise.
This is early days, and we do not have official milestones from Sony yet, but these early numbers indicate that Yotei is on a good path, and it remains a solid franchise after being a surprise breakout in 2020.
Ghost of Yotei
Sucker Punch
Sucker Punch made additional news this week when it talked about how it couldn’t do things like remasters or branching projects because it remained a single game studio. Speaking to VGC, studio head Brian Fleming spoke about their options:
“The truth is that whatever we do next, whether it’s continuing Ghost or going back to Sly, the decision is really more limited by, again, our cherishing of focus and time to iterate, which means that we really can only do one thing at a time,” Fleming said. “If we were good at juggling four projects, yeah, we’d have a remaster, and let’s go do one of those, and one of those, and do some fan request, that would be really popular… But we only get to do one thing. So it kind of has to be your best idea, right? And that’s really clarifying. It’s not like there aren’t 15 good ideas. But you only get to do one.”
This has sparked a flurry of social media takes about badly wanting Sucker Punch to get back to the Sly Cooper series, where the last game was out two decades ago. Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves was out in 2025.
I have a hard time believing that if Yotei is performing well, Sony would greenlight heading back to Sly from here after 20 years (Infamous, of course, is not even mentioned). Not that this is the “right” decision, but this feels like this might be similar to something like Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart. A great game that was not a breakout sales hit, but it also did not tie up developer Insomniac for five years, clearly. More recently, however, PS5 did give us Astrobot, GOTY winner, so there’s something to be said about breaking away from grimdark third-person action games as well.
I don’t know what will happen from here but if the choice is more Ghost or a 20-year revival of Sly, my guess would be that it’s going to be Ghost.
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