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PlayStation fans and critics seldom find common ground.

But a single issue that has been voiced by all parties.

"Where are all the games?"

Expensive, solo hits from internal developers have historically been the key to PlayStation's gaming success.

Throughout the PlayStation 4 days, users enjoyed a regular supply of narrative-driven games, but the pace has felt more like a trickle since the release of Spider-Man 2.

But, PlayStation's latest title – Ghost of Yōtei – marks a reversion to its established premium formula.

What Took So Long?

Sucker Punch's latest offering is a successor to the 2020 samurai-era release Ghost of Tsushima, among the most recent major PS4-exclusive releases from Sony.

"Titles require a long time to make, so it's no small part of your life," explains the creative director.

Ghost of Yōtei relocates the setting a few hundred miles to the north, to the Honshū region location, and the time period a few hundred years afterward, to the early 17th century.

This time, the story follows the protagonist Atsu, a heroine on a mission to seek retribution against the Yōtei Six – a faction of leaders accountable for her clan's demise.

With a prior title to develop from, it's far from a brand new start but, the director clarifies, the game is still a huge undertaking.

Just creating a different main character, for case, requires work from scriptwriters, character animators and design artists, to mention only some of the jobs involved.

Internally there are countless others team members.

A Vast Crew Effort

Although the studio has roughly two hundred staff at its headquarters near the Seattle area, hundreds more contribute to its projects.

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

Some of them will be from other countries, or from external studios that specialise in certain specialized disciplines.

"Creating a game demands all sorts of diverse talents, from deeply technical people... to individuals who are highly driven by narrative, like our writers," comments Fox.

"Furthermore the various departments function with harmony. It's like leading an ensemble.

"One have to have every components coming together."

Nate states that a dizzying number of elements can be part of a individual scene – from music to the code that ensures leaves float over the scene at a critical point.

"Every department need to have a sense of the end goal," adds Fox.

A Shift in Focus

Clear leadership is an aspect the community have accused PlayStation of missing in recent years.

During its former boss, the former CEO, the division initiated work on twelve live-service games, known as "live-service" titles in the gaming sector.

Several of the top titles, such as Fortnite, the sandbox platform and the military shooter, retain fans engaged for extended durations and generate substantial revenues of revenue.

PlayStation has had a hit in the area with last year's Helldivers II, but a unsuccessful failure with Concord, which was shut down merely a fortnight after its debut.

It has since halted live-service games inspired by some of its biggest franchises, such as God of War and The Last of Us.

Chasing the live-service market is a strategy PlayStation has stated is not wholly "on track", but it's said some titles with connected elements, such as the racing series and baseball title MLB: The Show, have performed well.

The highlights of its latest showcase stream were Saros, a successor to 2021's Returnal, and the highly anticipated Marvel's Wolverine game from superhero developer Insomniac – both story-driven games.

Debate and Examination

Major titles can often be magnets for controversy, as the developer just experienced when a employee's joke about the passing of conservative American activist Charlie Kirk prompted a backlash.

The developer ultimately let go the employee responsible, and co-founder Brian Fleming stated that "applauding or making light of an individual's death is a unacceptable for the team", when interviewed about it.

Certain right-wing video game influencers have furthermore criticized Ghost of Yōtei for starring a heroine.

The director says it was an "atypical decision", but essential to the story the developers aimed to present of an outsider resisting traditional norms.

While the game advances, the protagonist's legend as an Onryō – a revenge-seeking entity featured in Eastern folklore – grows.

"The public think it's impossible a female would have eliminated figures of the six warlords unless she is a supernatural {creature|