Ghost of Yotei is reportedly driving curious newbies and lapsed fans back to Ghost of Tsushima in droves

Ghost of Tsushima director's cut
(Image credit: Sony)

After four years, millions of players, and the imminent Assassin's Creed Shadows soaking up some of its samurai limelight, Ghost of Tsushima has again seen another boost in players thanks to its sequel's announcement. 

PlayStation properly announced what we all probably expected at last month's State of Play. Yes, Sucker Punch was, in fact, following up its hugely successful, widely admired open-world samurai game with a sequel, which we now know to be Ghost of Yotei.

And while Ghost of Yotei has a totally different protagonist and is set 300 years in the future, players still flocked back to its predecessor in droves to either catch up on what makes the series special or to scratch the itch it left behind. That's according to GameInsights data, reported on by True Trophies, that shows Ghost of Tsushima's active player count has shot up by 53% this past week on PS4 and PS5. The Director's Cut on PC also doubled its concurrent player count in the week of Yotei's announcements, based on SteamDB numbers.

True Trophies also reports that curious newcomers and lapsed fans alike made the game jump from number 35 on the console's most-played chart to number 26, overtaking several newly-released games and sitting only 17.9% behind The Last of Us Part 1's player count, which also got a bump off the back of the TV show's new trailer and an addition to PS Plus Extra.

Elsewhere, we also learned that Ghost of Yotei is throwing firearms into the mix this time to avoid the "repetitive nature" that plagues some open-worlders, and to set it even further apart from Jin Sakai's first adventure. 

Ghost of Yotei’s trailer perfectly captured what made Ghost of Tsushima special in the first place. 

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

Read more
Big in 2025: Ghost of Yotei
Ghost of Yotei will build on Ghost of Tsushima with guns, a gorgeous change of scenery, and "unexpected dangers"
Ghost of Tsushima sequel Ghost of Yotei reveal trailer screenshot
Ghost of Yotei: Everything we know so far about Ghost of Tsushima 2
Ghost of Tsushima
10 games like Ghost of Tsushima for open-world explorers
Assassin's Creed Shadows review gameplay showing Yasuke overlooking the sea and lush green scenery
Assassin's Creed Shadows has already "surpassed the launches of AC Origins and Odyssey" with 2 million players and counting
Ghost of Tsushima screenshot of Jin interacting with a fox
Assassin's Creed Shadows' Knowledge system sounds like it's tapping into what I loved most about Ghost of Tsushima
Assassin's Creed Odyssey screenshot
After replaying the best Assassin's Creed RPG, I hope Shadows uses the series' strengths to separate itself from Ghost of Tsushima
Latest in Action
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
Assassin's Creed Shadows review gameplay showing Yasuke overlooking the sea and lush green scenery
Assassin's Creed Shadows has already "surpassed the launches of AC Origins and Odyssey" with 2 million players and counting
God of War 3
God of War PSP's seamless loading was only possible because a Jak & Daxter game was also running in the background
MindsEye
GTA veteran's new open-world game will belong to everyone – almost like a wild mix of Roblox and Minecraft servers: "It won't just be ours"
Bill getting teary-eyed in The Last of Us
A potential The Last of Us season 1 plot hole has sparked a lot of debate among the fans
Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe "justice must be served" or "killing them isn't justice" Yaya and Mistumune choice
Should you side with Mitsumune or Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
Latest in News
A screenshot from MindsEye showing a character leaning out of a car, shooting another car with a gun.
GTA veteran says the games industry needs to "get smarter" about what people actually want: "There are so many games, and I think we're starting to feel the effects"
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says