Ghost of Tsushima on PC Attracts 57K Player Peak on Launch Day

There would be probably more players if it wasn't unavailable in half the world.

It's a great game that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I suspect that following the success of both this, and the day one release of Helldivers 2, on PC that GoT2 will also be a day one release on the PC. I think this could well be part of the 'more aggressive' multiplatform approach that Sony will now be taking...

My favourite exclusive of the last gen. Stunningly beautiful art style, very accessible and just deep enough combat without the Souls like precision in every encounter. It has a good story and despite having a typical open world quest format, it does enough to differentiate itself and never becomes dull or boring. If you can read quickly, I recommend Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. The online stuff was pretty fun too. I'm glad PC players get to experience this magnificent game!

Should’ve been the biggest as IMHO it’s the best of the bunch.

I absolutely agree with @TJ81. Ghost of Tsushima is still one of my favourite games of the last two generations and one of the few games I took the trouble to platinum. I’m definitely no trophy hunter, but when a game is this good, I can’t help myself.

Really think concord is going to track high as well.

I'm in a place with no psn so you know what i did. Thanks Sony. Great game so far!

Straight up, this is probably the best Sony exclusive port playabe on SteamDeck at launch that I've ever seen. It looks and plays rock solid, without any of the streaming asset problems that plague Horizon 2. It's an incredibly well done port.

THAT HAVING BEEN SAID! I am extraordinarily upset over the complete removal of Legends mode for Steamdeck players. How is this mode any different from Helldivers 2? Both are co-op multi-player. NOT competitive. I had no major issue with signing in to PSN, but Nixxes REMOVING multi-player entirely from a particular popular machine? I have a huge problem with that.

Numbers like these on PC are the reason the PlayStation console sales are in decline year after year.

Going multiplatform has its financial benefits, but also can destroy your well established fan base.

I honestly don't think the PSN requirement would be a huge deal if it didn't mean that so much of the world is told "sorry, the coincidental fact that you happen to be located in this geographical region dictates that you do not have the privilege to play this game".

All this is going to do is lead to the game being pirated, I would think. But I can't say I am too familiar with piracy, so I don't know if pirating the game would be able to remove the PSN requirement in any way, like how pirating some games can remove their DRM. So my assumption here might be completely wrong. Regardless, I do think it's a bit of a strange requirement that will only lead to them making less money, unless increasing the number of PSN accounts (not PS Plus, but specifically PSN) somehow increases their revenue, despite PSN accounts being free, in a way unknown to me.

@Fiendish-Beaver doubtfull. Helldivers is online only game. There is no reason to release Story type game on PC day one. It will not perform so good on PS5 if they will do that. If ever would Sony create their own Launcher on PC to avoid Steam 30% cut from all sales, then more likely they would bring to PC day one.

@BHPM you can create PSN account without problems in other countries/regions. It is just in Sony Terms of Service that they could terminate that PSN account if they wish. They are not doing that in real life. Many players are using PS5 consoles for decades like that.

I am coming from Latvia, now living in UK. And whenever you buy Xbox/Sony, you just pick which regions is easier to manage. UK, US, Finland, Germany are main ones that people choose. It depends with wich currency you are willing to deal, or you think will provide best choices for pricing/deals etc, buying gift cards for psn store etc.

@dirty_score Yeah, there would be at least ten more players!

I feel like I'm reading an awful lot about PC and Xbox lately. Hopefully there's more direct PlayStation news over the summer.

@BHPM precisely this. I've chatted with people in discord as recently as this morning who are beside themselves because they don't have access. Personally, I haven't purchased the game because I vote with my wallet. I'm hoping that they turn this decision around so that gamers around the world can play. It's beyond reason that people who have a Steam account can't play because they literally can't make a PSN

@REALAIS the issue isn't that they can't create a PSN. The issue is that Sony is a third party who uses launchers like Steam who do recognize the region is outside of the PSN network.

@Gamer_X 68k isn't anything major that it will hurt console sales, in fact some of these PC players might love the game so that when Ghost of Tsushima 2 comes out they will get it on PS5 as they don't want to wait over a year or two to get it.

@Gamer_X the ps5 is selling close as fast as the ps4 was. Also this is a 4 year old game that is already on ps+ so 0 harm was done to the ps brand. If anything if they annouce a sequel people will buy the ps5 to not wait years to play it on pc

I'm not so sure, @REALAIS. The new CEO has said they will pursue this policy aggressively, and with the success of Helldivers 2 primarily having been driven by the PC gamer, I can see this becoming the norm now for the PlayStation.

What needs to be remembered is that just because the game becomes available on the PC on the same day, the vast, vast majority do not own both a PC and a PlayStation, it's one or the other, and so games will still find a large audience on the PlayStation. Will it sell fewer copies on the PlayStation as a consequence? Absolutely, as some will undoubtedly opt to play it on the PC instead. However, the game will sell probably twice as many copies day one than it otherwise would have done. That means a huge spike in revenue for Sony and their shareholders. Also, anyone that thinks that buying a PC instead of a PS5 is a better option will have to pay three times what it costs to do so, and will find that gaming on a PC is far less easy that it is on a console, so I doubt many people will be trading in their PS5s to take up PC gaming instead.

The new CEO has already said the AAA games are costing too much to make, and the return is not high enough. Releasing day and date on the PC will make a huge return on that investment.

Now, will many on sites like this be unhappy at the prospect? Totally, but it is a battle that the shareholders will win, not the gamer. It should also be born in mind that this was an unpopular decision when it was taken on the Xbox, but these days no one even thinks about it. It just happens. People move on, which is exactly what will happen with the PlayStation gamer.

And when all that sweet revenue means new studios, new games and more of them, even the grouchiest PlayStation gamer will come to accept it...

@REALAIS that's not true for steam. If you're from an unsupported country you won't be able to see the store page of the game

@Gamer_X so is it ok for only MS to share their games and not sony? There’s been several PC games over the years that released on console too .

@REALAIS You're absolutely right, yeah. I do wonder, though, how many people either aren't willing to do that or how many people are scared of their account getting terminated. Just like how I know a few people that want to watch a Netflix show only available in the US, but aren't willing to use a VPN for similar reasons. But you would know better than I would my friend, as you are in an unsupported region while I am not.

@The_Pixel_King Coincidentally I also couldn't care less about trophies and achievements in games but I definitely wanted to 100% GOT.

@8bitOG Yeah. And again, I don't think it would be such a huge deal if you needed an account but it was still accessible worldwide, but unfortunately it is now more difficult for people to play these games if they live in an unsupported region.

Profits and all that aside, too, it gives Sony a bit of a bad image. If I lived in an unsupported region right now I would be a bit peeved at Sony (especially after the Helldivers 2 fiasco).

@MisterNintendo Piracy on PC isn't as bad as people make it out to be.

Most of the time piracy is done because game [X] isn't available to be purchased on PC for some reason or another. Or, to put it another way, widespread piracy isn't because people want stuff for free - there is generally another reason.

So...in this games case...locking it out of 177 countries will probably lead to piracy in those 177 countries because the game was refunded and pulled.

If Piracy were such a significant problem, GOG would have shut down ages ago as everyone would just pirate the DRM-free version of the games it provides rather than spend money in the store.

I would say the main reason is because, unlike the console space, Sony games aren't the be all of gaming.

I loved Ghost of Tsushima. I thought it was an absolute masterpiece! I hope sales continue to grow as word of mouth spreads because it's that good of a game. But I also understand that, in the PC space, Sony games are a novelty product.

@MisterNintendo I would hardly call stating facts crying, but whatever makes you feel better.

As a side note, I'm suprised that you don't want more people playing the game that you also love. That defies logic, but I guess they aren't you, so to hell with them. Right?

I don’t see how this is not a good strategy other than the lack of PSN in certain areas. Releasing a four year old game on PC not only garners sales, but also puts Tsushima back in the discussion before they announce the second game. Good move all around and the length of time between release does not hurt PS5 marketability. Now please can we get Sons of the Forest on PS5 already.

It seems unlikely anything else Sony ports to PC will ever be able to beat the record set by Helldivers 2

I’m pretty sure something like Marathon could hit a million concurrent players if the game is very good. Any live service game launching day one that’s multiplayer and about shooting things has a good chance of beating 450k.

Anything less than 1 mil concurrent on pc is a failure

Gorgeous game, but the actual open world exploration is very rote.

I think Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and Elden Ring have spoiled me.

Can't believe I'm saying this, but GoT would've been better as a more linear experience with better pacing. It doesn't really do anything to justify the open area design.

We’ve come a long way from where it all began, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again. - Taxi I’m in right now.

Sponsored by Heineken

@BHPM sony already has my info, so I'm with you there. I wouldn't care about the PSN if it didn't exclude gamers who could otherwise play the game. Unfortunately, Sony cares less about a bad image than they do money and data

objectively best PS5 games:
Returnal, Demon Souls, Ghost of Tsuhima.

@Rmg0731 only 6 games have broken 1M players in 20 years of Steam

I think I was expecting too much from this game it basically just a assassin's creed clone. It's Beautiful and competent but doesn't try anything new. Enjoyed the first 20ish hours then found it a slog to finish

@Toot1st Dude, you don’t have a PS5, you’re an Xbox fanboy troll and I see you on every website in the world it feels like. I’m pretty sure I even seen you fanboying in the comments section of metro gaming the one single time in my life I visited that website.

Go do something positive with your time on this earth.

@MrBook Yup. Both inspire a sense of curiosity and wonder, which is what you want in an exploration-based game. You're not wandering around a needlessly huge map just following checkpoint markers, which is how most open world games (especially GoT) are. The worlds feel alive and cohesive.

Not coincidentally, BotW, TotK, and ER are three of the most successful adventure games of all time critically and commercially. Zelda went from selling 5 - 10 million units lifetime across multiple platforms to TotK selling 20 million units in three months, and BotW clearing more than 30 million copies lifetime. Elden Ring is also From Software's most successful game and is well on its way to matching or exceeding that figure. It's almost like the market is sending a signal to developers: "Hey, we want more games like this!"

Apart from helldivers of course, these numbers seem really small to what i was expecting? (Particularly given how good some of these games are).

@MrBook "It just lacked variety. Only so many fox dens to discover, golden birds to follow and Mongols I could slice and dice before boredom set in."

There's also 19 Haiku spot, 18 hot springs, 16 bamboo strikes spot, 4 singing crickets, and 7 abandoned lighthouse that gave good rewards. Not to mention there's unwritten nor tracked side quest in Jin's journal.

But I'm the opposite. I never feel bored playing this game. Just doing simple stuff like gathering different type of flowers to change the color of Jin armor / clothes, galopping in the middle of grass fields / beach, or climbed the highest mountain and then bust out Jin's flute and see the weather change are really fun for me.

@Fiendish-Beaver Whatever the strategy is, it'll likely be announced on May 23rd at the meeting about Sony's long term vision for the future. More details on aggressive PC strategy feels more like a corporate meeting type thing rather than something you'd announce in a PS showcase.

@ChrisDeku just pretty week with consoles in general like 200-300 million gamers and there are a billion pcs which is always gushed about

Really want to rebuy it on PC to experience the game again.

PC gamers and I'm including myself here are a total different breed than console gamers.

Majority don't play the triple a action adventure games. Mostly because we get bad ports but a PC has so many other genres which are better suited to PC.

City builders, rts, mmo's, simulators. Not to mention the huge audience for fps with mouse and keyboard.

For me personally all third person action adventure games are played on my ps5, with a select few sports games and my PC is for all my tycoon, builder and management games.

So reality is apart from the out the blue successes which are live service or multilayer games, I don't see Sony pushing the needle on PC with games like god of war or ghost.

It's just a nice bump of sales and it gives nixxies an endless surplus of games for them to port and make their money.

If it isn't the core team porting it.

@Ralizah @MrBook I don't think it's fair to compare the GoT world design to the Zelda/Elden design. The Zelda 1, 2, BotW world design is sort of it's own special sauce, and IMO, Elden went really out of it's way to capture the Zelda 1 design philosophy. But I think that sort of open exploration open world is almost its own genre separate from the type of Ubisoft/Sucker Punch open world design.

I still thing GoT miserably fails in its open world in inexplicable ways, but I don't think comparing it to a different subgenre is right. I want to love GoT, it has such a great feel, but that was some of the most repetative, limited open world play I've ever seen, with only a handful of activities all spread out by vast walking distances for no reason. I say that as a massive Sucker Punch, INfamous, Sly fan. My favorite PS studio overall. But GoT failed it's open world on a disappointing level. I, too, played some length of time into it, and then just...stopped....it was great while it lasted but at a certain point I felt like I was just redoing everything I already did over and over.

And seriously, the forge.....how did that game let players into it before it was active? That was the most dramatic and depressing moment in the story was discovering the abandoned town streaked in blood, left how it was like a moment I captured in time, before I discovered "lol, no, the NPCs just haven't spawned yet because story gate"

@MrBook I would think it was originally open world since SP was mostly doing open world prior. But it does seem oddly unfinished in that regard.

Yeah, all of those are open worlds, but I think there's subgenres there. Elden/Zelda are kind of two of a kind. SP does the Ubisoft style. It still fails there a little but it's a better comparison.

Pc gamers are weird. I won't lie though I didn't bother starting GTA5 when they asked me to make an online account...

@Damage99 this is just a weird comment. Nobody on PC is avoiding the game for having online. Primarily because online games thrive on PC and they don't pay to play online. I have no idea where you've pulled that supposed argument from because its not in line with PC trends in any way, shape or form.

People ARE avoiding it however, because of the practices of the publisher. Oh and... You know...not making it available in well over 150+ countries. So in that sense... It's not so much as "avoiding it" as much as it IS "literally not having access to it".

I don't know why you commented this or what research you did prior... But I would honestly urge you to try and do that next time. May save you the hassle of looking a little iffy in public.

@GamingFan4Lyf I'm glad someone else understands this. I moved away from PC gaming so maybe it helps that I can see it through that lens as well as being someone who owned and still owns consoles throughout almost all of my life.

I think players from different avenues tend to only hear the worst about other players and then subsequently marginalises them to very specific extremes and it all becomes a mess of embellishment and exaggeration.

PC players, by and large, will gladly support games they enjoy. This was evident with Helldivers. And is evident in the plethora of other games that have thrived on PC that weren't available elsewhere that are still being upkept to this day. Last Epoch springs to mind.

They want innovation. And they will pay for it. They want fun. And they will pay for it. But they will also make their voices known if shady practices and underhanded acts from publishers trying to earn their money start appearing.

Again, they did this with Helldivers. And whilst many will still buy GoT, there will be a very small subsection of players who will pirate it because they want Sony to know that if they want to earn their money, they have to be respected first.

Sony are too used to cutting corners and forcing people's hands because that is literally the only option you have on a given console. Microsoft have done the exact same thing. It's not specific just to one user base.

But generalising the PC space as all pirates is disingenuous because they have time and time again shown they will support the hell out of devs who made something worthwhile and earned their money.

@moonswings20 @GamingFan4Lyf I find the whole "PC is only pirates" thing kind of funny when you see the sales figures from publishers keep showing PC is the top seller and Square flailing on console-only scrambling to PC. And of course Sega who lost their own console and.....thrives on PC....

@Damage99 found what? Someone who actually understands what they're on about?

Yeah, you sure did.

@MrBook I know I shouldn't, but it riles them up and it's a little bit funny to watch the inevitable meltdown when they can't think of why they made their point.

Its a problem with a lot of the comments I see on here. A lot of the users tend to edge into the more extreme category of ignorant and hateful.

You'd think this being a forum would mean that there'd be a level of understanding and genuine discussion. But unfortunately it's not. And this sometimes even comes through in the articles as well. You'd assume that people would actually have some clue as to gaming as an industry and have some inkling of understanding of other platforms and whatnot.

Turns out... No not really. It's just the people off the old 4chan threads 😂

Well that’s appalling! GOT is one of the best games ever made. a masterpiece frankly! PC master race got sticks up their a**e

@Mikey856 That's launch day concurrent player peak, not total sales.

@MrBook Maybe the ultimate irony is Yves Guillemot of Ubisoft who once declared "All PC gamers are pirates." Who now seems to make only games about pirates. And they sell best on PC. So I guess he was telling a different truth than the one we thought he was telling?

@NEStalgia mate don't get me started on Skull and Bones, I can't even.. 😂

I can’t imagine how beautiful GoT would be on an optimized PC. Still one of my favorites from the PS4 generation (including 3rd party releases)

Imagine how much more players they could get by removing those PSN country restrictions

@OthmaneAD
Helldivers 2 have proven to Sony that games sell better when releasing on PC on Day 1....Trust me Sony has taken notice of that.

Can play days gone max settings but according to google can only play this game on low if i installed it to my HDD despite this game coming out on PS4 which used the cheapest HDD there was , days gone is a better game jist based on this.

I would have to pay 100's for a new SSD to play this game (a glorified ps4 game) and no making space on the other isn't an option.

@Gamer_X not happening with single player games. Apples and oranges.

@ChrisDeku Guy made one comment saying he didn't enjoy the game and then you jump down his throat, accusing him of being an Xbox fanboy with no life? Lol Calm down bro, it's just a game. There's no need to roast the guy for his opinion. Lol

@naruball
Remember when people used say:

• "Sony will never charge for online play"
• "Sony will never bring their games to the PC"
• "Sony will never release games on PC Day 1"

Now:

• " Sony will never bring their single player games to the PC on Day 1"

How much longer would it take for people to understand that Sony is doing exactly what Microsoft is doing.

@TruestoryYep He’s made hundreds of comments across multiple websites, always with the same name and always 100% negative about any game Sony made. He’s a known xbox mega fanboy, so him claiming to have a PlayStation is pretty wild.

I played the game for several hours but then I stopped and never went back to it. It was fun but I didn’t feel compelled to keep playing. I couldn’t get invested in the characters and the gameplay mechanics aren’t that fun for me.

That said. Lots of people like it and I’m glad more people get to enjoy it.

Cheers and happy gaming.

@Gamer_X which doesn’t sound very smart considering how bad XBOX is doing, does it?
I’m not against PlayStation games being on other platforms, as long as I get to play them on my favorite one. But the risks of diluting the brand and corner yourself into a spot where the traditional console doesn’t make sense anymore is tangible.
I personally love the traditional console model. I don’t want it to go away. But if that’s what the future is going to bring… I’ll live with it.
Just let’s not put our heads in the sand and pretend what PlayStation is doing ain’t at least a bit risky.

@Gamer_X I remember replying to people saying "Sony will make their games available on PC day 1. It's already happening. It will happen to all games within 2 years tops". The two years have passed and still nothing. So, I don't know how much longer we're supposed to wait for that to come true. MS did that and failed. Sony has no reason to follow a failed strategy. They have every reason to continue porting single player games to PC since it hasn't affected sales yet. If anything, Sony tried to copy Nintendo (an actually successful competitor) that doesn't discount its first party games. But Sony soon realized that it's not Nintendo, so they started offering better sales for 1st party games.

@ChrisDeku what on earth are you talking about i just finished spiderman 2 and loved it! i also think returnal is one the best games ive played this gen add me on PlayStation if you want my psn id is TOOT1ST

@naruball Helldivers 2 say hi

Sony has already said during Thor earnings call that PC ports will be taking far more priority.

@ChrisDeku I can't believe someone was actually defending him, one look through his comment history on this site alone is enough to tell you he's an xbox fan boy.

@Gamer_X Oh, my! I completely forgot Helldivers 2 is a first party single player game. My bad. Please accept my apologies.