Ghost of Yōtei Devs Explain How They Made Its Vast, Reactive World Run Fast on PS5

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Sucker Punch Productions explained how they created the beautiful, expansive landscapes in Ghost of Yōtei without slowing down gameplay. In a PlayStation Blog post, Programming Director Adrian Bentley detailed their techniques: maximizing how far players can see, shifting some processing to the graphics card (GPU), and removing unnecessary details early in the rendering process. Distant mountains are created using high-quality textures, and the new rendering system allows for significantly more details like grass and objects. For example, scenes with over a million trees, rocks, and bushes are reduced to just 60,000 elements when creating the final image.

To achieve that realistic feeling, we needed to improve how far the player could see, specifically by enhancing the detail of things like grass, terrain, and mountains in the distance, Bentley explained.

Okay, so to make these game worlds huge, we’re using some clever tricks. Basically, we’re letting the computer create a lot of the scenery automatically, and offloading most of the work to the graphics card instead of the CPU. It’s like a streamlined assembly line – things get built, we only grab what we need to show you the frame, and then build the next one. This is especially helpful for things like massive fields of flowers; we can pack them in without slowing down the game because the CPU isn’t getting overloaded.

The game is designed to feel highly responsive and detailed. When Atsu swings his weapon, the game quickly calculates how it interacts with the environment, allowing him to slice through things like grass and flowers, which then create realistic particle effects. In snowy areas, the game dynamically changes the snow’s surface based on movement and combat – footprints sink in, snow rolls with actions, and snow falls from trees – all enhanced with a delicate sparkle effect.

The game’s atmosphere is significantly improved compared to Ghost of Tsushima. Because Mount Yōtei is frequently covered in clouds, the developers created a system to render clouds realistically in front of the mountains. This uses depth-based cloud maps and a parallax effect, smoothed with a technique to reduce visual distortions. The system calculates how much the clouds should obscure the mountains by analyzing depth information. Local fog, enhanced by the PlayStation 5’s hardware, creates realistic beams of light, with artists able to fine-tune their placement for a more dramatic effect.

The technology behind Ghost of Yōtei isn’t just one feature, but a combination of techniques. It includes rendering distant details, prioritizing processing for graphics cards, efficiently reading data, and creating materials that react realistically. This allows the game’s art style to shine without sacrificing performance.

Ghost of Yotei is now released on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro. Many consider it one of the best games of the year, and fans of Ghost of Tsushima will definitely want to check it out.

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2025-10-23 19:43