According to Mark Kern, the former Blizzard developer known as Grummz on X, Ghost of Yotei, the highly anticipated sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, still hasn’t caught up to its predecessor. In fact, the gap between the two is getting worse. And Kern has been right before.
In late October, Kern made the bold claim that Yotei sales were around 3.2 million units. Many doubted the veracity of his sources. However, a few weeks later, Gematsu reported 3.3 million copies of Yotei were sold within its first 30 days on the market. A leak being within 100,000 units of Sony’s official numbers was unprecedented
I have updated info on Ghost of Yotei sales after Black Friday.
The good news? Yotei has sold over 4m units.
The bad news? It is underselling Tsushima by 20%.
Reminder, I was dead on accurate with my source’s numbers, proven 100% correct before. I trust these numbers. pic.twitter.com/PDuQuEc9bY
— Grummz (@Grummz) December 1, 2025
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Now, Kern is back with updated Yotei sales figures reflecting its Black Friday performance. For Sony and game developer Sucker Punch, the new numbers present a good-news/bad-situation. The good news is that Yotei has sold over 4 million units. That makes it one of the best-selling games of the year across all platforms.
The bad news is that it’s trailing Tsushima by 20% in the same amount of time on the market.
A screenshot from Ghost of Yōtei (2025), Sucker Punch
Assuming the sources giving Kern this information are correct, the widening gap between Tsushima and Yotei must be setting off alarm bells at Sony and Sucker Punch. Generally, a sequel is able to build on an earlier game’s popularity. Why that’s not happening this time is likely keeping executives and developers up at night.
Game Theories
One possibility is that Yotei retails for $70 and the digital download was not part of Sony’s Black Friday sale. Nor were physical copies discounted at retailers like Walmart or GameStop. Tsushima, conversely, was only $60 at launch. With consumers being more selective about how they spend their entertainment dollars, other AAA releases may be taking priority.
A screenshot from Ghost of Yōtei (2025), Sucker Punch
Also worth considering is that Tsushima was released near the end of the PS4’s life cycle, when there were 110 million consoles in homes around the world. Yotei is exclusive to the PS5, which as of August had only sold 80 million units.
YouTuber Smash JT argues that the game itself may be to blame.
It would be at 8m right now if it was a proper sequel
— Smash JT (@SmashJT) December 1, 2025
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Yotei is set over three hundred years after the events of Tsushima and features a female protagonist, making it distinctly different. Gamers suspicious of a bait-and-switch from a game with a celebrated story to something pushing an agenda likely took a wait-and-see approach.
Development of the game was also steeped in controversy. After the murder of Charlie Kirk, one of the devs, Drew Harrison, was fired for making light of his death. Her tasteless joke ignited a firestorm online, causing many gamers to press pause on pre-orders. Recently, Harrison has claimed that she was the victim of a targeted harassment campaign.
Sucker Punch Senior Dev Drew Harrison mocks Charlie Kirk on BlueSky – BlueSky
Between controversial creative decisions and bad press, many gamers probably decided to spend their $70 and 30+ hours of playtime elsewhere. Regardless, Kern’s sources saying Yotei is trailing Tsushima makes it explicitly clear that something went wrong.
Conclusion
As before, many are expressing doubt about Kern’s claims. His numbers are leaks and as yet unverified by Sony. However, given his track record, it’s best to take them seriously. “Reminder, I was dead on accurate with my source’s numbers, proven 100% correct before,” Kern said in his post. “I trust these numbers.”
A screenshot from Ghost of Yōtei (2025), Sucker Punch
Time will tell how close he is this time. But the bigger issue is that Yotei has dramatically missed the mark with its target audience.
Do you think Grummz is two for two with his Ghost of Yotei leaks? Why do you think Yotei is lagging? Let us know in the comments!
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That’s still 4 million too many.
It’s a TLOU2 Syndrome.
People loved the one before it due to it not being Woke, and then bought the sequel unaware of the Rug Pull.
There is a reason Naughty Dog hasn’t made a new game in over 6 years. It’s due to the fact it will bomb, and the next Game from the Woktei Devs will also bomb.
Yep, only way woke can sell is to be a parasite onto existing IP. If they create new IP they go the way of the concord.
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