PlayStation Studios titles and high budgets are a seemingly iconic duo, with The Last of Us Part 2 costing more than $200 million while Horizon Forbidden West had a $212 million budget. However, Ghost of Yōtei is a different case altogether, with Sucker Punch co-founder Brian Fleming telling Game File that its “financials” and “costs” are “very, very similar” to its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima.
“When we look at the financials and the costs, the man years, the amount of months that the team—times the size of the team—worked on it, [it’s] very, very similar, actually,” said Fleming. Tsushima, which launched in 2020 for the PS4, reportedly had a $60 million budget.
While that’s good news, especially with the ever-ballooning cost of triple-A games, it’s also surprising. Ghost of Yōtei offers roughly the same playtime and map size as its predecessor, but the production values are arguably higher given that it’s developed exclusively for PS5. That’s not taking inflation into account.
Ghost of Tsushima went on to sell over 13 million copies as of September 2024, which is pretty good for a new IP. If the sequel has the same budget, it should be interesting to see if it hits the same milestone in a shorter period.
Ghost of Yōtei launches on October 2nd for PS5. Check out the latest cinematic trailer here.
