In a post-mortem Ghost of Yotei interview with VideoGamesChronicle, Sucker Punch Studio Head and Co-Founder Brian Fleming suggested that the Bellevue-based developer will keep focusing on one game project at a time instead of attempting to juggle more than one.
The truth is that whatever we do next, whether it’s continuing Ghost or going back to Sly, the decision is really more limited by, again, our cherishing of focus and time to iterate, which means that we really can only do one thing at a time. If we were good at juggling four projects, yeah, we’d have a remaster, and let’s go do one of those, and one of those, and do some fan request, that would be really popular… But we only get to do one thing.
So it kind of has to be your best idea, right? And that’s really clarifying. It’s not like there aren’t 15 good ideas. But you only get to do one. And by the way, you only get to do one about every five years. So that choice is really important.
Interestingly, Fleming also hinted that Sucker Punch has to deal with internal pressures from employees as well as external pressure from fans when it comes to potentially diversifying its output.
At 30 years, we now have employees who are kids of former employees. We have employees who weren’t born when the studio was founded. And you also have had enough changes from Sly, to InFamous, to Ghost that part of those changes, when they happen, is that it means not just you’re walking away from Tsushima, and not just that you’re walking away from the actors in Tsushima, but you’re walking away from employees who’ve been a part of the studio for the last decade, because they don’t want to do a game set in a historical setting.
As much as I'd love a new Infamous game, though, the Ghost of franchise has simply gotten too big. Beyond the excellent Ghost of Yotei, which seems to be selling almost as quickly as its predecessor based on initial estimates, Sucker Punch owner Sony has also invested on a live action film that is being directed by Chad Stahelski and an anime based on the multiplayer mode, Legends. Chances are the developers will be put on Ghost-making duty for at least one more installment.
In related news, we've recently published an interview with actor Feodor Chin about his role as the main villain of Ghost of Yotei, Lord Saito.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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