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Sony supporters and opponents rarely find common ground.

Yet there's one issue that has been expressed by all parties.

"Where are all the games?"

Big-budget, solo hits from first-party teams have historically been the foundation to Sony's hardware popularity.

In the last generation era, users received a consistent flow of cinematic adventures, but the pace has appeared as a slow drip since last year's Spider-Man 2.

However, the company's most recent game – Ghost of Yōtei – signals a comeback to its established blockbuster format.

What Took So Long?

Sucker Punch's newest offering is a sequel to the 2020 samurai-era release Ghost of Tsushima, among the last big PS4-exclusive titles from Sony.

"Games do take a long time to make, so it's an enormous portion of your life," says the creative director.

Ghost of Yōtei moves the setting a hundreds of miles to the north, to the Honshū region area, and the setting a few hundred years later, to 1603.

This time, the plot follows Atsu, a heroine on a mission to obtain retribution against the group of six – a group of rulers to blame for her kin's death.

Building on a earlier release to build on, it's far from a completely fresh foundation but, Nate states, the undertaking is nonetheless a massive undertaking.

Merely creating a fresh protagonist, for example, demands contribution from scriptwriters, character animators and character designers, to name just a few of the jobs participating.

Backstage there are countless others contributors.

A Massive Workforce Effort

Although the developer has roughly 200 team members at its base near the Seattle area, hundreds more contribute to its titles.

The credits for Ghost of Tsushima, for case, listed around eighteen hundred people.

Some of those will be from other countries, or from external companies that specialise in particular technical areas.

"Making a video game demands a wide range of different skills, from incredibly technical experts... to those who are extremely guided by narrative, like our writers," comments Nate.

"And all these groups operate in co-ordination. It's similar to directing an symphony.

"One have to have every elements coming together."

Fox notes that a overwhelming number of components can contribute to a single moment – from audio to the software that causes particles float through the screen at a crucial point.

"Each group need to have a sense of the overall direction," concludes the director.

A Shift in Focus

Clear leadership is something players have questioned Sony of missing in recent years.

During its prior boss, Jim Ryan, the company launched production on 12 live-service titles, called "continuous" games in the industry.

Some of the top examples, such as Epic's battle royale, the sandbox platform and Call of Duty, keep fans hooked for extended durations and earn massive revenues of income.

The company has had a hit in the space with the recent Helldivers II, but a disastrous flop with a certain title, which was taken offline only two weeks after its debut.

It has afterward halted live-service projects based on a number of its best-known series, like God of War and The Last of Us.

Chasing the multiplayer arena is a strategy Sony has admitted is not entirely "progressing well", but it's noted a few games with connected features, such as Gran Turismo and sports title MLB: The Show, have been successful.

The highlights of its recent showcase event were an upcoming game, a sequel to the earlier Returnal, and the highly anticipated the mutant hero adventure from Spider-Man maker Insomniac – the two single-player titles.

Discussion and Examination

Major games can frequently be centers for controversy, as Sucker Punch just discovered when a employee's joke about the passing of conservative activist personality a public figure caused a reaction.

The company finally let go the individual involved, and co-founder a senior figure said that "applauding or trivializing someone's killing is a red line for the company", when asked about it.

Certain political video game personalities have also attacked Ghost of Yōtei for starring a woman hero.

Fox notes it was an "unusual decision", but key to the tale the developers set out to share of an outsider challenging society's conventions.

When the game advances, Atsu's myth as an Onryō – a revenge-seeking entity found in Eastern tradition – increases.

"Players assume there's no way a female could have defeated figures of the six warlords unless she is a otherworldly {creature|