🔗 Share this article

PlayStation supporters and opponents infrequently see eye to eye.

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

"Why are there so few games?"

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

Throughout the PS4 days, players had a regular supply of story-rich games, but that has seemed more like a slow drip since last year's Spider-Man 2.

But, Sony's latest release – Ghost of Yōtei – signals a return to its established triple-A style.

Why Did It Take So Long?

The studio's latest offering is a successor to 2020's Japanese history-based title Ghost of Tsushima, among the last high-profile PS4-exclusive titles from Sony.

"Titles do take a considerable duration to develop, so it's a major part of your career," says Fox.

Ghost of Yōtei transfers the setting a hundreds of miles northward, to the Honshū region area, and the time period a few hundred years forward, to the year 1603.

This time, the story revolves around Atsu, a heroine on a mission to seek retribution against the Yōtei Six – a faction of rulers to blame for her clan's demise.

With a prior title to develop from, it's not quite a completely fresh beginning but, the director explains, the project is still a massive effort.

Simply having a fresh hero, for example, needs input from scriptwriters, animation artists and design artists, to name just a few of the roles participating.

Backstage there are countless others specialists.

A Vast Workforce Undertaking

While the studio has about two hundred team members at its headquarters near Seattle, many hundreds are involved in its projects.

The list of contributors for Ghost of Tsushima, for example, listed around over 1,800 people.

Some of those are from overseas, or from third-party studios that excel in particular technical fields.

"Making a video game requires all sorts of distinct skills, from incredibly technical experts... to individuals who are very focused on feelings, like our writing staff," explains Fox.

"Furthermore the various departments function with synchronization. It's like conducting an symphony.

"We have to have all of the elements working in unison."

Nate states that a overwhelming array of factors can go into a single moment – from soundtrack to the software that makes particles float over the environment at a pivotal juncture.

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

An Adjustment in Strategy

A sense of direction is an aspect fans have questioned Sony of missing in recent times.

With its former boss, Jim Ryan, the division initiated production on a dozen online multiplayer games, referred to as "ongoing" titles in the gaming sector.

A few of the top games, such as Fortnite, Roblox and Call of Duty, maintain players engaged for months and earn substantial sums of money.

PlayStation has had positive results in the space with the recent Helldivers II, but an catastrophic flop with another game, which was taken offline just 14 days after its launch.

It has subsequently cancelled multiplayer games based on some of its best-known IPs, like God of War and The Last of Us.

Targeting the multiplayer market is a strategy the company has stated is not entirely "going smoothly", but it's noted some titles with connected features, such as the driving simulator and MLB title MLB: The Show, have been successful.

The stars of its recent showcase presentation were an upcoming game, a follow-up to 2021's Returnal, and the long-awaited the mutant hero adventure from web-slinger studio Insomniac – both single-player titles.

Controversy and Attention

Big releases can also be magnets for controversy, as the studio not long ago experienced when a staff member's comment about the death of political US figure a public figure triggered a reaction.

The studio finally dismissed the individual responsible, and founder a senior figure stated that "applauding or trivializing a person's death is a unacceptable for the company", when questioned about it.

Some political video game personalities have furthermore targeted Ghost of Yōtei for including a heroine.

The director says it was an "unconventional selection", but crucial to the story the developers aimed to share of an underdog defying cultural norms.

As the adventure unfolds, Atsu's reputation as an vengeful spirit – a revenge-seeking apparition featured in Eastern folklore – spreads.

"Players believe there's no way a woman could have taken out members of the the group except if she is a supernatural {creature|