When Sucker Punch Production’s Ghost of Tsushima was first announced during Paris Games Week back in 2017, it turned heads with its generous first impressions. The gameplay trailer released the following year during E3 capitalized on the hype, complimenting silky smooth gameplay with impressive visuals that improved from the previous year’s trailer.
In July 2020, Ghost of Tsushima was released to widespread acclaim. Regarded by many as one of the best adventure games in a long time, Ghost of Tsushima has been reserved a slot on many top 10 Game of the Year lists for 2020. One of the many things that Ghost of Tsushima did right was its dedicated world-building. Its painstaking recreation of the real-life Tsushima Island unexpectedly cast the island it was based on in the spotlight recently. And it may have even served as a catalyst for saving the said island.
In September, a torii gate alongside the Watatsumi Shrine on Tsushima Island was destroyed by Typhoon Nock-ten. The typhoon was infamous for causing the most damage to the Philippines, a country that already endured two large-scale typhoons a few months prior. That, along with the damage it has done to Japan including other countries along the Pacific, was enough to retire the name “Nock-ten” and “Nina” from the list of typhoon names for the future. Two months later, a crowdfunding campaign began on Campfire, the Japanese equivalent to websites such as Kickstarter. The initial goal for the crowdfunding was 5 million yen or around $47,000.
The campaign was created in hopes to raise enough money to restore the torii gate and construct a new one in its place. Ghost of Tsushima‘s popularity and acclaim served a significant role in the success of the crowdfunding, raising 27,103,882 yen in total. This was more than 500% of the original amount. In current conversion, that’s over a quarter-million dollars raised. ($259,893.30 exact)
Ghost of Tsushima sold incredibly well in Japan due to its authenticity towards the country during the late 13th century. Weeks after the game’s launch, a Japanese professor weighed in their opinion and historical accuracies found in Ghost of Tsushima. Almost a month later, Ghost of Tsushima quickly became the second best-selling first-party game on a Sony console in Japan, trailing behind 2018’s Spider-Man. In November, the game sold over 5 million copies, becoming the fastest-selling first-person IP on a Sony platform.
The prevalence of torii gates in Ghost of Tsushima served as passageways to shrines. These shrines were a way to upgrade Jin’s weapons as well as give him beneficial perks to help him on his journey. Coincidentally, the construction of the new torii gate will include a shrine consisting of the name of backers who donated 10,000 yen or more. The development will begin in April of this year once all budgets are accounted for in March. Pending further delays due to the ongoing pandemic, the project is expected to finish by August.
Ghost of Tsushima is available now on pS4.
Source: Siliconera (via Famitsu)
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