Ghost of Tsushima sequel leaked
NOMINATED for 11 Baftas, Ghost of Tsushima not only wowed critics but went on to sell like gangbusters, becoming the PS4's most successful new franchise.
Armchair assassins have received a lot of love since Sony's mega-budgeted yarn of old-school samurai released last July: in October, an update introduced the co-op Legends mode, allowing two players to buddy-up for an all-new nine-mission campaign, while a next-gen 60fps boost meant buttery smooth on-foot and filly-mounted Mongol-bashing for the PS5 set.
Joystick jockeys repaid the favour when the game's fans helped raised more than 27 million yen (£175,000) to restore the Torii gate at Tsushima's Watatsumi Shrine, destroyed by a typhoon last September.
Rumours abound, however, that developer Sucker Punch is working on an even swisher do-over ever since eagle-eyed fans spotted Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut on the Entertainment Software Rating Board website.
Slated for both PS4 and PS5, it's hard to see how they can supercharge the eye candy in what's already one of the most technically stunning games on the market. But the real headline is that there's also a sequel in the works – and it'll be arriving sooner than you think.
Titled Ghost of Ikishima, the game was leaked by one of Twitter's most reliable rumour-mongers earlier this week, and confirmed the following day when Sony registered ghostofikishima.com.
The claim is that Ikishima is a standalone expansion to the original, in much the same vein (and roughly the same size) as Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Aiming for release this year, it's a safe bet the game will launch on both PS4 and PS5, and may well be included as a bonus in the Director's Cut, enticing veterans to double-dip.
And if you can't get enough of Samurai noble Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima is the latest Sony property set to get the movie treatment. PlayStation Productions – the studio behind the upcoming Tom Holland-fronted Uncharted flick and HBO's The Last of Us TV show – are deep in development on a big-screen version, to be helmed by John Wick director Chad Stahelski once Chapter 4 in that series wraps.
From Seven Samurai to Yojimbo, Ghost wore its celluloid influences on those baggy sleeves like badges of honour, so a silver-screen outing seems a natural fit. Think Mulan for red meat eaters.
The Last Samurai – the last time Hollywood mounted a historical romp of this kind – was the most oblivious piece of cultural insensitivity ever produced, so here's hoping they can at least cast a Japanese actor rather than a diminutive Scientologist in the lead role.
Given the game was essentially a playable homage to samurai movies, things have come full circle – and if it can combine the action of John Wick with the sweep of Kurosawa, Ghost of Tsushima's cinematic turn should be should be samuright up your alley.
