Ghost of Tsushima Lacks Broad Commercial Appeal

Arguably one of the biggest upcoming exclusives on the PS4 side for next year is Ghosts of Tsushima, the new open world action adventure game by Sucker Punch that is set in historical Japan. It looks pretty exciting, and unlike anything else in Sony’s first party portfolio- and it looks like it will end up adding yet another advantage to Sony’s console next year against the competition- right?

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter doesn’t seem to think so- speaking exclusively to GamingBolt, Pachter said that the game’s innate ‘Japanese-ness’ will hold it back from broad commercial appeal, at least in terms of selling systems.

“I don’t think anything that has that Japanese flavor has broad appeal,” Pachter said. “They’re great games and get high ratings, and the hardcore audiences love them. But, for the average audience, they’re hard games. They’re too hard for most people. I mean, I played Persona 5, one of the highest rated games ever, and I like it, but I can’t believe it went on to sell as many copies as it did. It’s just not the kind of game that seems like it has mass appeal, even though it’s one of the best games ever made, and probably wins Game of the Year. But… going back to Tsushima, no, I don’t think it has broad appeal either.”

Pachter does note the game will probably be great- but in his opinion, it might not be enough for broad appeal. But on the other hand- who knows? Maybe since Tsushima is being developed by a western developer, it will do well. That remains to be seen. Ghosts of Tsushima will launch exclusively on the PS4 some time in 2018.