Ghost Of Yotei Sold Just Fine Despite Charlie Kirk Controversy

""With one week in market, the US sales performance of Ghost of Yotei was basically flat to that of Ghost of Tsushima," the research firm's Mat Piscatella wrote on Bluesky. "It did great. Ghost of Tsushima launched in July 2020 (if you'll recall, stuff was happening at the time that significantly boosted gaming), and the PS4 installed base at the time was significantly higher than the PS5 is today. Like, anyone with 'concern' about this title should be looked at with a side eye.""

"Ghost of Yotei was behind Borderlands 4, NBA 2K26, and EA Sports FC 26, which isn't surprising considering those are multiplatform best-sellers and the samurai revenge tale remains exclusive to PS5 right now. Sales were still enough to make Yotei the 18th best-seller of the year so far by revenue and the second best-selling game on PlayStation during the period, just behind NBA 2K26 but ahead of Borderlands 4 which had two additional weeks on the market."

"Ghost of Yotei has been on the receiving end of a slow-burn reactionary backlash from online culture warriors ever since it revealed its protagonist was a woman named Atsu. She's played by Erika Ishii who was attacked by the usual suspects for being queer and for posting about about defunding the police during the 2020 George Floyd protests. The flame war intensified after a Sucker Punch developer posted a joke about the Charlie Kirk assassination, with some calling for a boycott of Yotei even after the developer was fired for the remark."

Ghost of Yotei debuted as the fourth best-selling game in the U.S. for September after only three days on sale. With one week on the market, U.S. sales performance matched that of Ghost of Tsushima despite a smaller PS5 installed base compared with the PS4 at the earlier launch. Yotei ranked 18th by revenue year-to-date and was the second best-selling PlayStation title for the period. The title trailed multiplatform hits Borderlands 4, NBA 2K26, and EA Sports FC 26. An online backlash and boycott calls tied to the lead actor and a developer controversy did not materially affect initial sales.

Read at Kotaku