Sony’s first party has come a long, long way this generation. They always made great games, but this generation, titles such as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, God of War, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Spider-Man are all literally generation defining titles that have all received rave critical acclaim and gone on to sell millions.
It’s against this backdrop that Sucker Punch is preparing to release Ghost of Tsushima, its feudal Japan samurai action adventure game. With its fellow Sony studios and partners having elevated their game and their stature in the last few years, surely Sucker Punch, who until now have been known for good but not remarkable games, feels the pressure to up the ante itself too?
Speaking to GamesIndustry, creative director Nate Fox said that Sucker Punch absolutely feels the pressure, but in a good kind of way. He also said that being able to learn from the collective knowledge of the other studios in Sony Worldwide Studio’s umbrella informs the development experience.
“We absolutely feel pressure to live up to the standards set by these other Sony PlayStation exclusives – but what a good pressure it is,” says Fox. “We want to provide players with the same joyful experience that they got from these other great games – and what’s better is these other studios, they talk to us, they give us tips, we learn from each other. We feel more capable than ever because of those studios being more open with their knowledge.”
I have hope that Ghost of Tsushima ends up being every bit as great as those other games, and that it can be mentioned in the same breath as them, when it launches exclusively for the PlayStation 4 (hopefully) next year.