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- Sony’s next title, Ghost of Yotei, has been announced with a 2025 release.
- It’s a welcome surprise, considering how Sony’s blockbusters are characterized by lengthy development cycles and early reveals.
- Pre-mature reveals of games only cause problems, which is why this shorter reveal-release window needs to become the norm.
When it comes to gaming, everyone has their preferences. Some want their game to be extremely photorealistic, some prefer gameplay depth, while others come for a meaningful story; the spectrum continues. This is why certain people complain about the “cinematic movies” nature of today’s AAA games, but there is also a group who is okay with it.
Regardless, all this becomes a moot point when these AAAs take a little too long to release. The greatest problem of today’s blockbuster titles is not the cinematic nature but the lengthy development cycles and extremely early reveals of projects that can’t happen for years. This is why the recent Ghost of Yotei reveal has a silver lining.
Why it matters: Sony has occasionally revealed its games very early, and taken too long to deliver, but Ghost of Yotei comes with a short release span, which is great news.
A 2025 Release For Ghost Of Yotei Is Perfect
Sony’s recent State of Play hid a surprise that certainly caught me off guard. The highly popular samurai-action game Ghost of Tsushima is getting a sequel with some big changes, like the protagonist. But the greatest shock was neither Ghost of Tsushima receiving a sequel, nor the stark changes, but the release date, which was an unbelievable 2025.
Wait, why is 2025 unbelievable? Well, considering the lengthy development periods of AAA blockbusters like this and how Sony has a habit of revealing its titles a little too early, I was expecting 2 years minimum. Seeing Ghost of Yotei get a 2025 release was a surprise, true, but a highly welcome one.
Take a look at some of Sony’s past titles. Marvel’s Wolverine was teased back in 2021, but we didn’t even get a single detail in all these years, let alone a release date. Spider-Man 2 was released 2 years after the reveal; the same is the case with God of War Ragnarok. Some of the delays were indeed due to COVID-19, but not all.
The Last of Us Part 2 was revealed in 2016, but Naughty Dog expressed in 2018 that it won’t set a release date until the game’s ready. Why reveal it so early, then? Even Ghost of Tsushima had 3 years between reveal and release. All of this is why this 2025 release has me hopeful for the future.
The Cons Of Early Reveals
I firmly believe the industry’s ever-growing obsession with photorealistic visuals and extreme graphical detail is hurting gaming as a whole. All this leads to absurd budgets and extremely lengthy development times, which in turn skyrockets the companies’ profit expectations. And when the game performs even slightly less than expected, it curtains.
What good is a hyper-realistic, cinematic game with breathtaking visuals and production quality if you have nothing to play for 4-5 years after it? Wouldn’t it be better to create less intensive titles with more focus on engaging gameplay and player entertainment, all the while maintaining a steady supply?
Jason Schreier: Video game production cycles have gotten so long that if a big-budget game studio started working on a brand new project today, it would likely be for the PlayStation 6
byu/Zhukov-74 inPS5
But even more important is not making this lengthy development time known. Sometimes, ignorance is indeed bliss, and this is the perfect case.
When these tech giants reveal their game a little too early, knowing it can never be finished in 2-3 years, they indirectly make the public suffer. On the contrary, revealing a game at the last minute will maintain the illusion that “Wow, this game came out pretty quick,” which ultimately benefits these companies the most.
Video games are announced way too early and its disrespectful to the fans.
byu/jamesbwbevis inunpopularopinion
Ghost Of Yotei Needs To Set An Example
I’ve already discussed this matter in pretty detail: why it is counterintuitive to reveal titles a little too early. All I’ll say now is that revealing games closer to release is a win-win for both the companies and us consumers.
This is exactly why I was so impressed by the 2025 release of Ghost of Yotei. It shows that Sony might finally be fixing its marketing cycle. Instead of revealing its titles too early and ultimately disappointing fans, it’s shifting to a shorter reveal-release cycle, thus preserving the hype of its blockbuster AAAs.
Sony isn’t the only one that has revealed its games early. There are plenty of examples in today’s gaming industry. And almost 100% of the time, it didn’t turn out well for the game. Thus, a change on the industry level is the need of the hour.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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