For having only been out for a little over three months, Ghost of Tsushima has gained a massive amount of popularity since the game's initial release. But despite the excitement around the game ahead of its release, Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan didn't necessarily think Ghost of Tsushima would become a success.
Jim Ryan recently became the CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment last year. Since his appointment as CEO, Ryan has been at the focal point of all things PlayStation, including the development and promotion of the PS5. However, in terms of Ghost of Tsushima, Ryan apparently didn't expect the game to do as well as it did.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry, when talking about Ghost of Tsushima, Ryan disclosed that the game did much better than he or anyone else expected it to in terms of both critical and commercial success. It's a curious stance, given all of the crazy stories that occurred during Ghost of Tsushima's development.
In any case, it actually makes sense that Ryan would possess an outlook similar to this. He even mentions in the interview that, compared to Naughty Dog and its impressive track record, Ghost of Tsushima succeeded in ways that not he or even the developers at Sucker Punch could have predicted.
In retrospect, it really is impressive that Sucker Punch managed to create a game that resonated with so many fans, when the studio's previous titles were so dissimilar from Ghost of Tsushima. Before Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch was responsible for the Infamous and Sly Cooper franchises, both of which gained popularity and success in their own right, but neither series possessed the same qualities, tone, or even game mechanics as Ghost of Tsushima.
Within the last several years especially, it's become harder and harder for new, original titles to flourish on their own. It's typical for a triple-A game to succeed commercially just by being part of a larger, more popular series. The success of titles such as God of War and Uncharted 4 are proof of this. However, it makes it all the more exciting when a brand new, standalone game surfaces to major success within the gaming community, as with Ghost of Tsushima.
Ghost of Tsushima is available now exclusively for the PS4.
Source: GamesIndustry