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Sony enthusiasts and critics infrequently see eye to eye.

However there's one issue that's been raised by everyone.

"Where are all the games?"

High-cost, solo hits from first-party teams have long been the key to PlayStation's console dominance.

Throughout the PS4 era, players had a consistent flow of narrative-driven games, but that has appeared as a trickle since 2023's Spider-Man 2.

But, PlayStation's latest release – Ghost of Yōtei – signals a reversion to its successful triple-A format.

The Reason for So Long?

Sucker Punch's latest game is a sequel to the earlier samurai-era adventure Ghost of Tsushima, among the last high-profile PlayStation-only titles from Sony.

"Video games need a considerable duration to make, so it's a major chunk of your career," says the creative director.

Ghost of Yōtei relocates the story a hundreds of miles to the north, to the Honshū region location, and the era a hundreds of years forward, to the early 17th century.

Now, the narrative centers on the protagonist Atsu, a female warrior on a journey to exact revenge against the group of six – a group of leaders to blame for her clan's demise.

With a previous game to develop from, it's far from a brand new foundation but, Fox explains, the project is nevertheless a massive challenge.

Simply introducing a different main character, for example, requires work from writers, animators and character designers, to mention only some of the jobs involved.

Backstage there are numerous additional specialists.

A Vast Team Undertaking

Even though the developer has about 200 staff at its base near Washington, numerous others are involved in its titles.

The list of contributors for Ghost of Tsushima, for case, listed around over 1,800 names.

A number of those will be from abroad, or from third-party studios that excel in specific technical fields.

"Developing a video game demands various different talents, from highly technical experts... to people who are highly driven by feelings, like our writing staff," says Fox.

"Plus these teams function with co-ordination. It's comparable to conducting an orchestra.

"One have to have every components working in unison."

Fox states that a overwhelming variety of components can contribute to a individual moment – from audio to the code that ensures particles float across the environment at a pivotal juncture.

"Every department need to have a awareness of the overall direction," says Nate.

A Shift in Strategy

A sense of direction is something players have criticized the brand of missing in recent years.

Under its former head, the ex-executive, the division initiated development on a dozen online multiplayer titles, known as "live-service" games in the industry.

Several of the top games, such as the popular shooter, the user-generated game and the FPS series, maintain players hooked for months and earn huge amounts of revenue.

The company has had positive results in the space with last year's Helldivers II, but a disastrous failure with Concord, which was discontinued merely a fortnight after its launch.

It has subsequently halted live-service projects inspired by several of its best-known franchises, including God of War and The Last of Us.

Targeting the live-service market is a plan the company has acknowledged is not entirely "progressing well", but it's noted certain games with connected modes, such as the racing series and baseball title MLB: The Show, have done nicely.

The main attractions of its most recent showcase presentation were Saros, a sequel to the earlier Returnal, and the eagerly awaited Marvel's Wolverine game from superhero maker Insomniac – both solo experiences.

Controversy and Examination

High-profile titles can also be magnets for debate, as the developer recently experienced when a staff member's remark about the passing of political US activist a public figure triggered a outcry.

The studio eventually let go the employee at the center, and co-founder Brian Fleming commented that "celebrating or making light of an individual's killing is a unacceptable for the team", when asked about it.

Some political video game influencers have furthermore attacked Ghost of Yōtei for featuring a female protagonist.

The director notes it was an "unusual selection", but key to the narrative the creators aimed to tell of an underdog defying traditional expectations.

While the game advances, Atsu's reputation as an vengeful spirit – a wrathful entity found in Eastern folklore – grows.

"Players think it can't be a female would have eliminated figures of the the group without she is a mythical {creature|