Ghost of Yotei drops October 2 — Sucker Punch dares to dance near GTA 6

After months of total silence and more than a few GTA 6-shaped shadows looming over fall release plans, Ghost of Yotei has officially staked its claim: October 2, 2025.

That’s less than a month before Rockstar’s expected nuclear drop, and Sucker Punch clearly isn’t flinching.

“Ghost of Yotei will be PlayStation’s biggest exclusive release of the year.”

If that sounds bold, remember what this studio is building off of. Ghost of Tsushima wasn’t just a late-gen PS4 stunner — it was a genre-defining hit. With its open-world elegance, Kurosawa-inspired cinematography, and that perfectly tuned “samurai dueling in the wind” combat, Tsushima brought something fresh to the action-adventure space when it launched in 2020. It managed to drop right after The Last of Us Part II and still carve out its own identity, eventually pulling in Game of the Year nods and selling over 10 million copies.

We previously mentioned that Ghost of Yotei Update Quietly Confirms New Combat Mechanic & PS5 Pro Enhancements.

So yeah, Ghost of Yotei has big boots to fill. But if any team can pull that off, it’s Sucker Punch — especially if they’re not afraid to go toe-to-toe with whatever Rockstar has cooking.

Here’s what we know so far about Yotei:

• It’s set in a different era and location than Tsushima. No more Mongol invasions — this is an entirely new story with new characters and a fresh conflict.
• The trailer shows off stunning mountain terrain, denser cities, and what looks like a heavier focus on stealth. There are also rumors of expanded RPG systems and a wider range of gear customization.
• Deluxe and collector’s editions are live now, complete with katana replicas, artbooks, and PS5-exclusive armor sets.
• No PC date yet, but given Sony’s track record, expect it to come 12–18 months later.

Timing-wise, it’s… spicy. Rockstar hasn’t revealed a solid date for GTA 6, but “fall 2025” is what they’re sticking to. And while no one wants to launch next to a franchise that literally breaks the internet every time it breathes, there’s only so much fall to go around. We’re now seeing publishers triangulate around Rockstar’s other releases, like Borderlands 4, hoping those dates offer a clue.

“A trick that some publishers seem to be doing… is to plan their dates around Borderlands 4.”

That’s how you get a situation where Bungie’s Marathon and Gearbox’s Borderlands 4 land on September 23, and then Ghost of Yotei follows just a week later. Everyone’s dancing around a release window shaped by a game that hasn’t even revealed a proper trailer yet. Chaos.

It’s a risky strategy, but maybe a smart one. Let’s be real, GTA 6 is a different beast. It’ll dominate sales, social media, and YouTube thumbnails — but it’s also not the same kind of game. There’s plenty of room for a focused, story-rich, single-player action game to thrive. Just look at Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, or even Tsushima itself. Gamers will show up for something that hits emotionally and mechanically.

“Everyone expects the sequel… to live up to or even exceed the first game.”

What helps is that Ghost of Yotei has distance from the other major samurai release this year — Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. That game’s already generating huge numbers and seems poised to become the second most-played AC title ever. But with its massive RPG approach and Ubisoft flavor, it’s not exactly cannibalizing the same audience as Sucker Punch’s focused storytelling and sharp combat systems. In short, people who loved Tsushima probably aren’t skipping Yotei.

So what’s the takeaway here?

If you’re a PlayStation fan, October 2 is now your red-letter day. It’s the boldest move from Sony’s first-party teams this year, and they clearly believe in the strength of the IP. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is still sweating over when exactly GTA 6 will land — and who will end up caught in its blast radius.

We don’t know if Yotei can survive going up against the biggest game of the decade. But if it’s even half the game Tsushima was, it won’t just survive — it’ll shine.