Ghost of Yotei and Ghost of Tsushima studio Sucker Punch will likely continue to focus on a project at a time, with co-founder and studio head Brian Fleming explaining why "we really can only do one thing at a time."
Speaking to VGC during a recent interview, Fleming says that no matter what project Sucker Punch picks up next, it's going to be the one project that they see through from conception to release – no other games stealing the spotlight of their focus along the way. "The truth is that whatever we do next, whether it's continuing Ghost or going back to Sly," he admits, "the decision is really more limited by, again, our cherishing of focus and time to iterate."
This "means that we really can only do one thing at a time," as Fleming puts it. "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." Doing just the "one thing at a time" means that said one thing must be the developers' greatest potential idea – even if all their other suggestions are good, too.
"It kind of has to be your best idea, right? And that's really clarifying," continues the lead. "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. I mean, that is choosing your college and your major every five years." He isn't wrong, here. Whatever the devs choose to work on will consume the majority of their time for a long time.
Fleming uses an example of picking a college or future outside of work to exemplify this: "You could go to Cambridge, but you could also go to UCLA. And you could also decide you're going to go to the Peace Corps, but you can only do one of those in the next five years." As he concludes, "Wow, that's a really big decision. You'd better think carefully about it" – and this same sentiment applies to Sucker Punch's development process.
It seems like hyper-focusing on just one project at a time works well for the studio. The devs do produce some serious bangers. After all, our own Ghost of Yotei review praises the team for creating "one of the first PS5 games to feel truly boundary-pushing."
Playing one of this year's best new games yet? Be sure to read through our Ghost of Yotei tips for the smoothest possible experience.
