Ghost of Yotei is reportedly driving curious newbies and lapsed fans back to Ghost of Tsushima in droves

The announcement of Ghost of Yotei, the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, has led to a surge in players returning to the original game on both consoles and PC, highlighting the enduring appeal of the open-world samurai adventure.

After four years, millions of players, and the imminent Assassin's Creed Shadows soaking up some of its samurai limelight, Ghost of Tsushima has again seen another boost in players thanks to its sequel's announcement. 

PlayStation properly announced what we all probably expected at last month's State of Play. Yes, Sucker Punch was, in fact, following up its hugely successful, widely admired open-world samurai game with a sequel, which we now know to be Ghost of Yotei.

And while Ghost of Yotei has a totally different protagonist and is set 300 years in the future, players still flocked back to its predecessor in droves to either catch up on what makes the series special or to scratch the itch it left behind. That's according to GameInsights data, reported on by True Trophies, that shows Ghost of Tsushima's active player count has shot up by 53% this past week on PS4 and PS5. The Director's Cut on PC also doubled its concurrent player count in the week of Yotei's announcements, based on SteamDB numbers.

True Trophies also reports that curious newcomers and lapsed fans alike made the game jump from number 35 on the console's most-played chart to number 26, overtaking several newly-released games and sitting only 17.9% behind The Last of Us Part 1's player count, which also got a bump off the back of the TV show's new trailer and an addition to PS Plus Extra.

Elsewhere, we also learned that Ghost of Yotei is throwing firearms into the mix this time to avoid the "repetitive nature" that plagues some open-worlders, and to set it even further apart from Jin Sakai's first adventure. 

Ghost of Yotei’s trailer perfectly captured what made Ghost of Tsushima special in the first place.