Ghost of Tsushima's promotional campaign was very very strange.

[Kemono]

Man people are getting antsy when something isn't going how they think it should.

It really isn't that hard to understand that covid fucked up sonys plans big time. Sure they could've shown got in march or april but sony tried to give their games (dreams, ff7 remake) room to breathe. Then came covid and suddenly they had to shove the tlou2 promotion from after ff7 into mai/june. So now they have to balance two really big aaa games ( one is their biggest gem this gen) to not eat each others lunch.

And they can't just shove the games even further back because they don't want to overshadow the games with their new console stuff.

This shit isn't easy. GoT gets showed around as is. No need to throw a wrench into the system just because the world isn't working as if everything was peaches.

P.s. I don't enjoy sonys radio silent approach one bit but me whining isn't going to change one bit.

 

[Greywaren]

It's a bit worrying to me that we have barely seen any gameplay. Hopefully that will change soon.

 

[Kemono]

 

[Video Kojima]

Man people are getting antsy when something isn't going how they think it should.

It really isn't that hard to understand that covid fucked up sonys plans big time. Sure they could've shown got in march or april but sony tried to give their games (dreams, ff7 remake) room to breathe. Then came covid and suddenly they had to shove the tlou2 promotion from after ff7 into mai/june. So now they have to balance two really big aaa games ( one is their biggest gem this gen) to not eat each others lunch.

And they can't just shove the games even further back because they don't want to overshadow the games with their new console stuff.

This shit isn't easy. GoT gets showed around as is. No need to throw a wrench into the system just because the world isn't working as if everything was peaches.

P.s. I don't enjoy sonys radio silent approach one bit but me whining isn't going to change one bit.

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Some of us don't believe the for delay had anything to do with Covid. It could have equally had to do with TLOU project related issues, that other games also have from time to time. Don't forget companies have entire departments dedicated to ensuring negative information is publicised in the most positive way.

 

[VanDoughnut]

I never get why people are so worried about a games marketing campaign, especially for a first party stuido game.
I can understand wanting to know more for one reason or another. But it's not like they're NEVER going to show the game. Most likely you will know what you need to know and with enough time to make an informed decision towards a purchase or not.
And then once you have that info, who cares how long it took you to get it? Unless they decide to show things like 2 weeks away from release, who gives a heck? You'll know what you need to know eventually. Until then chill and play any of the other 8000000000000 games that are out there.

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yeah I don't get too caught up in it because we are going to find out at some point.

the game can't hide forever, and what's been shown has been promising.

We got that trailer recently, and there's still plenty of time for a blowout that solidifies what this game will be like and put us at ease.

I wanna say holding their cards close to their chest is a sign of confidence (and needed to prioritize TLOU2), Sony first parties have been on a roll. So I'd be surprised if Ghost wasn't the real deal.

 

[lost7]

It's pretty obvious they're planning to show something soon. It's also pretty obvious that most likely the TLOU2 delays have been making it a bit more complicated to find the right window to market this game, as it's coming after. Also, there is bit of a pandemic going that may or may not be affecting plans a little.

But no, I guess it's more likely that SP is hiding the gameplay because the game is awful and they wanna hide it!!!! It's not like Sony has used pretty much the same strategy for a certain 2018 GOTY...

 

[VanDoughnut]

Some of us don't believe the for delay had anything to do with Covid. It could have equally had to do with TLOU project related issues, that other games also have from time to time. Don't forget companies have entire departments dedicated to ensuring negative information is publicised in the most positive way.

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comon son. Not this again. Covid is real and it's a mess to try and plan logistics right now. Game's coming like a couple weeks after the original May 29th date (June 19)

 

[DrDeckard]

In the last two years Sony released some of it's biggest games ever with Spiderman, Days Gone, Death Stranding, God of War, FF7R. What do you mean?

Click to shrink...

I meant the marketing and communication from the higher ups.

One could say let the games do the talking, completely valid i guess....but since the old guard left (tretton, house, big dawg, I could name names for ages here...) pretty much the whole ps4 team has been wiped. There's yosp left but they hardly let him talk anymore, or push him to the forefront.

I just miss the ps4 launch era sony, and the real stand ups like Tretton and House.

 

[Video Kojima]

comon son. Not this again. Covid is real and it's a mess to try and plan logistics right now. Game's coming like a couple weeks after the original May 29th date (June 19)

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Covid definitely affects things. But I'm not so sure about TLOU/GOT. The release date moved from indefinite to 2 weeks later seemingly after some leaks that the majority of customers won't care or even know about. I just don't take companies at their word.

 

[Batatina]

They have shown such a sizeable chunk of gameplay and it looked amazing 2 years ago, they have been sending out a few trailers since then, each more amazing than the last. Not sure what people are so concerned with, we've seen the actual game, not just CGI. It's my most anticipated game this year just based on what they showed.

Marketing will ramp up closer or after TLOF2 and thats ok, to be honest I will skip anything else they show to avoid spoilers.

 

[VanDoughnut]

Covid definitely affects things. But I'm not so sure about TLOU/GOT. The release date moved from indefinite to 2 weeks later seemingly after some leaks that the majority of customers won't care or even know about. I just don't take companies at their word.

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the indefinite part of the delay was because they didn't want to set a date at that time. No one knew how severe covid would affect our lives and how the governments response would factor in.

If you're not sure when you can get things going, why set a date?

No company can get a whole logistical and marketing campaign going on a whim, it takes planning and coordination. They're not rushing things out to respond to leaks.

 

[Deleted member 4976]

Some of us don't believe the for delay had anything to do with Covid. It could have equally had to do with TLOU project related issues, that other games also have from time to time. Don't forget companies have entire departments dedicated to ensuring negative information is publicised in the most positive way.

Click to shrink...

Just because you don't believe it doesn't mean it can't be true.

OP didn't believe COVID-19 was a big deal and shat on Sony for canceling an event and yet here we are, months later, in the middle of a global pandemic.

 

[Mubrik_]

If you can't see the same posts about how people are disliking the same open world structure that Horizon utilizes then I don't know what to tell you. It's an instant turnoff for many people.

Horizon is easily the second most disliked Sony title after Days Gone in this forum.

I'm not saying that's representative of the world outside this forum, bit here there are plenty of people who did not like Horizon.

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lol.
Bold words

OT:
They've shown gameplay already and story trailer
There's nothing strange about simply waiting to closer to launch to show more

Game was announced bit too early, bet they want to promote heavy closer and till launch date.
Will do great for them

Just because you don't believe it doesn't mean it can't be true.

OP didn't believe COVID-19 was a big deal and shat on Sony for canceling an event and yet here we are, months later, in the middle of a global pandemic.

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This as well, lol

 

[xtib81]

People like to worry for nothing. I feel like I read the same topic every time a big Sony exclusive comes out. The same shit happened with GOW.

 

[TheChungusAmongUs]

I'd imagine it's incredibly difficult to get "press impressions" and hold media events of the game considering everyone is working at home right now.

 

[JoeNut]

Yeah but covid has screwed everything up and delayed things

 

[Deleted member 57990]

The problem I'm seeing with GoT is that people aren't sure if it's a Dark Souls-alike or not.

The people who dislike that kind of masochistic game will assume it is and avoid it, while the hardcore Souls crowd will try it and, if it's not tough as nails, hate it.

 

[Sanka]

Click to shrink...

Look at the comments. This is how the mainstream reacts to it. Pure hype by just seeing a gif. There is a gameplay video on youtube with a whopping 14 million views! People are hyped and excited because they have seen just enough but not too much. Ghost of Tsushima's biggest marketing strength is its beauty. They don't need to waste any rescources on a marketing campaign before they are close to release.

I truly don't get all this concern around the game.

 

[VanDoughnut]

The problem I'm seeing with GoT is that people aren't sure if it's a Dark Souls-alike or not.

The people who dislike that kind of masochistic game will assume it is and avoid it, while the hardcore Souls crowd will try it and, if it's not tough as nails, hate it.

Click to shrink...

im not even sure where they get the Sekiro comparisons beyond swords and feudal Japan, it's clear the game is going for something different.

 

[RenorMirshann]

Look at the comments. This is how the mainstream reacts to it. Pure hype by just seeing a gif. There is a gameplay video on youtube with a whopping 14 million views! People are hyped and excited because they have seen just enough but not too much. Ghost of Tsushima's biggest marketing strength is its beauty. They don't need to waste any rescources on a marketing campaign before they are close to release.

I truly don't get all this concern around the game.

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DON'T LOOK at the comments. There are TLOU2 spoilers at the top.

 

[Kaversmed]

For me personally I don't need anymore footage to get me hyped. What we've seen is enough to get my interest piqued. I am aware that's not enough for everyone but I actually think showing less can sometimes be a more effective marketing approach than showing more.

 

[Deleted member 41520]

I agree its weird. Maybe they dont trust the game. Even before COVID, Sucker Punch has been very very quiet on the game systems and any details regarding the open world outside of no waypoints. Last time I saw this amount of caginess was No Man's Sky.

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Bizarre take. No Man's Sky had tons of publicity and that's what undid it.

Sucker Punch haven't been cagey. We've seen more of Ghost than we ever saw of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Half-Life: Alyx t this stage - would you call Nintendo and Valve "cagey" too?

Showing little until launch is a valid strategy these days.

 

[GymWolf86]

They released 4 trailer in 3 years and one of them was full gameplay so no problem for me except maybe lack of explanation on how the combat really works.

 

[Manta_Breh]

They released 4 trailer in 3 years and one of them was full gameplay so no problem for me except maybe lack of explanation on how the combat really works.

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This is what I want to see. I'm happy with the gameplay, but I just know all the systems and how it all works together ... I love that Rockstar type commentary of gameplay systems working together videos.

 

[PenultimateFantasy]

I mean I get what you are saying - I'm not quite sure what the game is
However it's not out for a few months and it looks so good there is much hype for it.

So maybe they are doing it just right

 

[GymWolf86]

This is what I want to see. I'm happy with the gameplay, but I just know all the systems and how it all works together ... I love that Rockstar type commentary of gameplay systems working together videos.

Click to shrink...

Maybe we are gonna have something similar with tsushima too like they did with days gone.

 

[Egida]

Reading that title you would think the game was released months ago.

 

[Dphex]

Same as God of War..

there are 2 months left till release, they will ramp up marketing soon.

 

[Iwao]

God of War followed a similar cycle.

It happens that Sony's marketing has been disrupted by what's going on in the world right now.

Part II has received a similar amount of footage to Tsushima. Both of these games would have been releasing more than 28 days apart, and both would have received more traditional marketing and received well publicised press previews a month before they start sending out review codes, if it wasn't for the situation.

 

[Edify]

The strange thing for me is this recent trend of people on era feeling worried that they're not being advertised to enough. I'm really liking the sparse marketing from Sony at the moment. Ghost of Tsushima, The Last Of Us 2 and the PS5 are going to sell themselves, appealing to mouth-foaming hobbyists is only a small part of Sonys overall strategy.

 

[Taffy Lewis]

The December trailer has nearly 3millions while the recent March one has under 300k, so I does seem like it might have gotten buried at little. But only currently. I don't think it'll be that hard to ram this back into peoples minds in a short space of time. I think we sometimes overestimate how long/in-depth marketing campaigns need to be.

Click to shrink...

Youtube viewer numbers are meaningless without knowing whether they ran the December trailer as an advertisement or not.

 

[Famassu]

"Was"? The game's promotional campaign has barely started properly, which is not all that strange for a Sony game over 2 months from release, let alone in our current COVID-19 times that have made controlled press events impossible.

Sony has probably just noticed that you don't need to heavily promote something months and months prior to release. A few strong showings (maybe a couple of good trailers & one or two lengthier gameplay demonstrations) at gaming events throughout the years and then put the game into the hands of the press + a lengthier, meatier trailer + shorter tv spots starting from 1,5-2 months prior to release and they'll usually find plenty of success, at least with more mainstream games. Doesn't necessarily work as well with something like Dreams.

 

[ArmGunar]

The December trailer has nearly 3millions while the recent March one has under 300k, so I does seem like it might have gotten buried at little. But only currently. I don't think it'll be that hard to ram this back into peoples minds in a short space of time. I think we sometimes overestimate how long/in-depth marketing campaigns need to be.

Click to shrink...

The Story Trailer has only 300k views because PlayStation have/had a 18+ on this so you had to log in
That's why the same trailer on IGN and GameSpot channels have each around 1M views (even PS FR has 600k+ views)

 

[Deleted member 54073]

I've pre-ordered so it worked for me.

 

[Dewin]

Some of us don't believe the for delay had anything to do with Covid. It could have equally had to do with TLOU project related issues, that other games also have from time to time. Don't forget companies have entire departments dedicated to ensuring negative information is publicised in the most positive way.

Click to shrink...

You sir, are concern trolling. Did you watch the Inside Xbox event? With a terrible Aaron cam and such like? Everyone is coping with doing stuff at home. Even with big marketing departments. Even the big boys like Sony and Ms. Everyone is affected by Covid.

 

[Dazraell]

Sony is doing an extensive marketing push in a month / month and half before release. There is still time. They're probably busy now with The Last of Us marketing.

 

[Andalusia]

The Story Trailer has only 300k views because PlayStation have/had a 18+ on this so you had to log in
That's why the same trailer on IGN and GameSpot channels have each around 1M views (even PS FR has 600k+ views)

Click to shrink...

Ahhh. Then that it explains it.

 

[Rosebud]

It's not like their biggest game of the generation is releasing before and need more focus right now.

 

[Domcorleone]

Bizarre take. No Man's Sky had tons of publicity and that's what undid it.

Sucker Punch haven't been cagey. We've seen more of Ghost than we ever saw of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Half-Life: Alyx t this stage - would you call Nintendo and Valve "cagey" too?

Showing little until launch is a valid strategy these days.

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I guess I mean cagey in terms of an accurate/ detailed description of the games mechanics and systems. I remember no mans sky was someone non specific as to what you could and would do in the game and when I bought the actual game you couldn't do shit.

I'm very excited for GoT so I'm not "concerned " however as an enthusiast I'm disappointed in how it's been revealed and even before covid I expected some sort of deeper dive into the game and how it played either vis a vis b roll or a dev interview. But I've watched the interviews they did in 2017 and they've gone radio silent ever since despite dropping trailers and videos.

it's hard to put much stock into gameplay reveal trailers for a new IP because usually it's just proof of concept type video that gives you an idea of what you can do. More often than not the scope and goals of the game change and so do some of the mechanics at times. I don't know if what I saw in 2018 is indicative of the game at this point, they've had an extra 2 years to make changes and even in their last interview in 2018 they said they weren't ready to talk about the combat as they are still trying new things out. For all I know they could have removed stances (which was hinted in the demo but never confirmed) and made the game easier/harder. That's why people want a little more detail.

 

[Cyberia]

Expecting news next week.

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

I feel like your other post actually kinda proves the point that there is a problem. The fact that someone stitched together all trailers together from 2018 to 2020 and just totaled about 15 mins is really bad. Hence why people are stating that there isn't enough content of the game out there. Most games have extensive hands on around this time. They have an excuse for that because of COVID 19, but the lack of extended gameplay trailers that highlights a vertical slice of what the game is not normal IMO. Even game dev interviews are important. Just look at Cyberpunk 2077 for example. Look at how much content released for that game. Someone managed to piece together the while map of the game in 3D! Things you can do in the game, and what kind of a game it is. A vertical slice of sort. That's how you market a game as a bare minimum.

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I see what you're saying, I really do. A t the same time though, my question to you is: what specifically do you want them to show that would make you feel like you've seen enough? Since we've seen melee combat, ranged combat, traversal, stealth, etc. It's an open world game, we know the structure of those intimately well at this point.

For example, this 8 min trailer from Spider-Man (same length as the Ghost gameplay trailer) gave me literally *everything* I needed to know about the gameplay.



The inclusion of Arkham-esque stealth and a few specific takedowns ✅
The inclusion of Arkham-esque combat and a few specific moves ✅
The web-slinging traversal ✅
The quick-timey cinematic events ✅

Then, because it's an open world game, I can extrapolate that experience to the rest of the game, applied across the usual open world activities. Web-sling from A to B, where you'll get a side quest to go to C and engage in either stealth or combat. Traverse to a hidden spot and find a collectible. Gain skill points and pump them into a skill tree. And so on.

Could they have done a narration over this trailer and told you exactly what's happening in every frame? Sure. But even without them doing that, you still get a very good sense of how it plays.

Now, I realize that they showed more of Spider-Man after this trailer, and I'm not saying that they *shouldn't* show more of Ghost of Tsushima (they absolutely should, and I'm sure they will once we're closer to July), but what I'm saying is that even at this point right now, it's not like the game is the huge mystery that everyone is making it out to be.

 

[Deleted member 5604]

You tend to do this with every Sony exclusive, why?

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Hey Judge so how do you feel about this ban? Seeing as they did exactly what you were saying was expected behavior if a trend/pattern was noticed in the xbox thread about Neat and did not act against multiple posts that were pointed out doing exactly that.

 

[Basarili]

was there one?

Click to shrink...

This

 

[Prime2]

I see what you're saying, I really do. A t the same time though, my question to you is: what specifically do you want them to show that would make you feel like you've seen enough? Since we've seen melee combat, ranged combat, traversal, stealth, etc. It's an open world game, we know the structure of those intimately well at this point.

For example, this 8 min trailer from Spider-Man (same length as the Ghost gameplay trailer) gave me literally *everything* I needed to know about the gameplay.



The inclusion of Arkham-esque stealth and a few specific takedowns ✅
The inclusion of Arkham-esque combat and a few specific moves ✅
The web-slinging traversal ✅
The quick-timey cinematic events ✅

Then, because it's an open world game, I can extrapolate that experience to the rest of the game, applied across the usual open world activities. Web-sling from A to B, where you'll get a side quest to go to C and engage in either stealth or combat. Traverse to a hidden spot and find a collectible. Gain skill points and pump them into a skill tree. And so on.

Could they have done a narration over this trailer and told you exactly what's happening in every frame? Sure. But even without them doing that, you still get a very good sense of how it plays.

Now, I realize that they showed more of Spider-Man after this trailer, and I'm not saying that they *shouldn't* show more of Ghost of Tsushima (they absolutely should, and I'm sure they will once we're closer to July), but what I'm saying is that even at this point right now, it's not like the game is the huge mystery that everyone is making it out to be.

Click to shrink...

In that 2018 trailer which is nearly 2 years ago now we got a lot, there is nothing to tell us if that has changed, we don't even know how the game controls, are there side quests to do, do we get ai helpers at certain parts. I want to know what the game is, how do I navigate the world is there animals in the wild to fight, weapon progression etc. Its 2 months out its not of the question to wonder about a game due that soon, especially in the current climate with money tight for a lot of people.

 

[Deleted member 9584]

Not sure why they'd wait for LoU2 to release to then have like three weeks to push Ghosts. They could both be marketed because the Sony die hard will buy both and the casual observer would most likely be interested in TLoU2.

For someone who has zero interest in TLoU2, I am frustrated that we aren't seeing anything for Ghosts this close to release. I will be honest, I am a little worried Ghosts won't be the banger I want it to be.

 

[NotLiquid]

For a new IP I feel like I know very little about how it plays, and the little footage I have seen doesn't instill me with that much excitement. People here brought up things like Halo Infinite and Assassin's Creed Valhalla that also haven't had much shown, but I feel those are disingenuous examples. Most people know what to expect from those games. I can't expect anything out of Tsushima since it's a totally new IP.

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

In that 2018 trailer which is nearly 2 years ago now we got a lot, there is nothing to tell us if that has changed, we don't even know how the game controls, are there side quests to do, do we get ai helpers at certain parts. I want to know what the game is, how do I navigate the world is there animals in the wild to fight, weapon progression etc. Its 2 months out its not of the question to wonder about a game due that soon, especially in the current climate with money tight for a lot of people.

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Ok, thanks for the clarification, this part was genuinely helpful.

In any case sounds like we might be getting more GoT news next week, so hopefully all this will be a moot point by then :)

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

Not sure why they'd wait for LoU2 to release to then have like three weeks to push Ghosts. They could both be marketed because the Sony die hard will buy both and the casual observer would most likely be interested in TLoU2.

For someone who has zero interest in TLoU2, I am frustrated that we aren't seeing anything for Ghosts this close to release. I will be honest, I am a little worried Ghosts won't be the banger I want it to be.

Click to shrink...

They will market both at the same time, but obviously TLOU 2 gets a head start since it comes out first.

Sounds like we'll be getting GoT news as soon as next week

 

[Fisty]

OP must still must have some left over concern from when Sony was foolishly canceling conferences due to covid19 back in Feb

 

[lost7]

I just noticed the Playstation twitter account has been posting tweets on the game every 3 days starting on the 1st of May, so the marketing has already started. Now the question is when will the next big trailer/gameplay be shown? I really hope they don't wait out until the big even in June...