How difficult it can be to install a new license in an already saturated video game landscape! Fortunately, the sales of Ghost of Tsushima offer a nice counter-example, even if not everyone is happy.
Jin Sakai not only delivered his Archipelago from the Mongol invasion, he also made the business of Sony Interactive Entertainment. Ghost of Tsushima, the new license of Sucker Punch released in summer 2020 has sold eight million copies, and the studio did not hesitate to celebrate this milestone:
Ghost of Tsushima gets … Rossed
It must be said that Sony did not skimp on the means to make people talk about its brand new license when it was released on PlayStation 4, not without (very) quickly offering a Director’s Cut version on Playstation 5, just to take advantage of the long transition that takes place between two generations. With its success, Ghost of Tsushima will even be the subject of a film adaptation, because this is now Sony’s strategy.
And yet, this success did not only make people happy. Indeed, the celebration of this sales milestone has helped reopen a gaping wound at Jeff Ross, the director of Days Gone:
By the time I left Sony, Days Gone had been out for a year and a half (and a month), and had sold eight million copies. Since then, more have been sold, including an additional million on Steam. The managers at the studio always made us feel that it was a big disappointment.
The worst is always certain
If Jeff Ross does not seem to have digested the Days Gone episode, it is undoubtedly because Sony had refused a sequel to the Bend studio, despite five awards and a profitable development. In response to his statement, the director offers new avenues to understand his feelings, believing that Sony would have more believed in Death Stranding than in Days Gone.
Resentment was shared among the ex-Bends, since co-director John Garvin also let go last spring:
Don’t complain if a game doesn’t get a sequel if it wasn’t supported when it launched. I don’t think fervor for a game is as important as buying it full price. Because if you did, you supported the developers directly.
Let’s hope for Jeff Ross’s nerves that Sony doesn’t hurry too much to announce a sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, otherwise we’re not giving too much of our skin …
What do you think of Jeff Ross’s statements? Is the success of Ghost of Tsushima deserved? Tell us about your razor-sharp opinions like a katana in the comments below.