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PS5 enthusiasts and detractors seldom see eye to eye.

But one particular complaint which has been voiced by everyone.

"Where are all the games?"

High-cost, story-driven blockbusters from in-house teams have long been the cornerstone to PlayStation's gaming success.

During the last generation days, fans had a regular supply of narrative-driven adventures, but this has seemed more like a drip since the release of Spider-Man 2.

But, the company's newest release – Ghost of Yōtei – signals a return to its established blockbuster format.

What Took So Long?

The studio's newest offering is a successor to the 2020 feudal Japan-set adventure Ghost of Tsushima, among the final major PS4-exclusive releases from Sony.

"Titles require a long time to create, so it's an enormous portion of your life," explains Nate.

Ghost of Yōtei moves the setting a hundreds of miles north, to the Honshū area, and the era a hundreds of years forward, to the early 17th century.

In this installment, the narrative centers on the protagonist Atsu, a heroine on a journey to seek vengeance against the Yōtei Six – a group of rulers responsible for her family's demise.

Building on a prior title to develop from, it's not a completely fresh start but, Nate states, the project is still a enormous challenge.

Just having a fresh hero, for case, demands contribution from authors, animators and character designers, to cite a handful of the jobs required.

Internally there are many, many more team members.

An Enormous Workforce Effort

While the developer has about two hundred employees at its base near the Seattle area, many hundreds work on its titles.

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

Some of these were from other countries, or from outside firms that focus in specific specialized areas.

"Making a title requires various distinct talents, from deeply technical people... to people who are extremely driven by emotions, like our story team," explains Fox.

"Furthermore all these groups operate in co-ordination. It's similar to directing an symphony.

"We need to have all of the pieces aligning."

Nate says that a staggering number of components can go into a individual moment – from soundtrack to the code that causes particles drift through the environment at a pivotal juncture.

"Each group need to have a understanding of the overall direction," says the director.

A Shift in Strategy

Clear leadership is something the community have criticized the brand of missing in the last few years.

With its previous leader, Jim Ryan, the branch initiated work on a dozen multiplayer titles, referred to as "live-service" titles in the business.

Several of the best-known titles, such as Epic's battle royale, the user-generated game and Call of Duty, retain fans involved for extended durations and produce substantial amounts of revenue.

Sony has had a hit in the genre with the recent Helldivers II, but an unsuccessful disappointment with another game, which was discontinued merely 14 days after its release.

Sony has since cancelled multiplayer games using several of its biggest IPs, such as God of War and The Last of Us.

Targeting the live-service market is a strategy Sony has acknowledged is not wholly "progressing well", but it's noted a few titles with connected modes, such as the racing series and sports simulation MLB: The Show, have performed well.

The stars of its most recent promotional stream were Saros, a successor to 2021's Returnal, and the highly anticipated the mutant hero title from Spider-Man studio Insomniac – the two solo experiences.

Debate and Scrutiny

Major games can frequently be sources for conflict, as Sucker Punch just found when a staff member's remark about the passing of political activist personality Charlie Kirk caused a backlash.

The studio finally dismissed the staff member responsible, and founder Brian Fleming commented that "glorifying or trivializing an individual's murder is a unacceptable for the team", when asked about it.

Some political video game commentators have furthermore attacked Ghost of Yōtei for starring a woman hero.

Nate explains it was an "unconventional selection", but essential to the tale the creators wanted to share of an unlikely hero defying cultural norms.

As the game progresses, the character's myth as an Onryō – a vengeful entity seen in Japan's mythology – grows.

"Players assume it's impossible a female would have eliminated figures of the six warlords except if she is a mythical {creature|