Ghost of Tsushimahas been available on PlayStation 4 for just under two months. While not without its criticism, the open-world action game was warmly received and very successful in terms of sales. Thus it may surprise some thatGhost of Tsushima’s developer Sucker Punch Productions was not always confident in the project. In fact, Sucker Punch was apparently nervous about the idea prior to making its initial pitch.
The issue was that Sucker Punch is a development studio based in Bellevue, Washington, while its parent company Sony is based out of Japan.Ghost of Tsushimais a game immersed in Japanese history and culture, soSucker Punchwas worried about how the pitch would be received.
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Sucker Punch Co-Founder Brian Flemingexplained the situation during a PAX Online panel today. He said Sucker Punch first went to Shuhei Yoshida, who had been President of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Worldwide Studios for over 10 years, thinking, “If we aren’t able to convince Shu … then we couldn’t do it.” The developer pitched the idea to Yoshida with the explicit intent to see how he would react to the idea of “a western team tackling this material.”
Fleming goes on to say that Yoshida “encouraged” Sucker Punch regarding itsplans for theGhost of Tsushimaproject, but he also had what Fleming described as “sage advice” for the team. Yoshida apparently told Sucker Punch that there’s no way to “fool anyone” regardingGhost of Tsushimabeing made by a western team, and pushed Sucker Punch to surround itself with resources, both from Sony and outside the company, to better execute on its plan.
Fleming provided a quotation from Yoshida saying, “Your goal isn’t to pretend you’re something you’re not. Be a great version of yourself. Go on this journey and you can do well.” He described this as a good reason whyYoshida is a well-regarded figure in the gaming industry.
The studio went on to createGhost of Tsushimawith the idea that it wasn’t claiming to be “authentic.” Rather, Sucker Punch worked to focus on the material it developed with its Japanese partners, and to “incorporate it respectfully” intoGhost of Tsushima. The results speak for themselves, asGhost of Tsushima’s setting and story were lauded by critics, and theopen-world game sold exceptionally wellin Japan while being praised by some Japanese developers.
Ghost of Tsushimais available now for PS4.
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