Grummz Drops New Ghost of Yotei Sales Leak—and It’s Not Good News for Sony

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Mark Kern, a former Blizzard developer known as Grummz on X, believes the upcoming Ghost of Yotei, the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, isn’t as good as the original, and the difference in quality is actually increasing. Kern has a track record of making accurate predictions, so his opinion carries weight.

As a huge fan of the game, I remember when Kern came out saying Yotei had sold around 3.2 million copies back in late October. Honestly, a lot of us were skeptical – it seemed like a big number and we weren’t sure where he was getting his information. But then, a few weeks later, Gematsu reported sales of 3.3 million in the first 30 days! That was amazing, and what really blew everyone away was how close the leak was to Sony’s actual official numbers – only 100,000 units off! That’s practically unheard of.

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%.

Just a reminder, my previous information was completely accurate and fully verified. I’m confident in these figures.

— Grummz (@Grummz) December 1, 2025

Kern has released updated sales data for Yotei, including how well it performed during Black Friday. The numbers are a mixed bag for Sony and Sucker Punch, the game’s developer. On the positive side, Yotei has sold over 4 million copies, making it one of the year’s best-selling games on any platform.

The bad news is that it’s trailing Tsushima by 20% in the same amount of time on the market.

If the information Kern received is accurate, the growing difference in performance between Tsushima and Yotei is probably causing concern at Sony and Sucker Punch. Usually, a sequel benefits from the success of the first game, so the fact that isn’t happening here is likely a major worry for those involved.

Game Theories

It’s possible that Yotei is priced at $70, and the digital version wasn’t included in Sony’s Black Friday deals. Physical copies weren’t on sale at stores like Walmart or GameStop either. In contrast, Tsushima originally cost $60. Because people are being more careful with their spending on games, they might be choosing other major releases instead.

It’s also important to remember that Tsushima came out towards the end of the PlayStation 4’s lifespan, when about 110 million PS4 consoles had been sold worldwide. Yotei, on the other hand, is only available on the PlayStation 5, which had sold around 80 million units by August.

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

Set over 300 years after the story of Tsushima, Yotei introduces a female lead, marking a significant change. Players worried that the new game might prioritize a specific message over a compelling narrative likely preferred to observe how it would be received before playing.

The game’s development was also marked by controversy. Following the murder of Charlie Kirk, developer Drew Harrison was fired after making an insensitive joke about his death. This sparked outrage online and led many gamers to cancel their pre-orders. Harrison has since stated that she was the target of a coordinated harassment campaign.

Between questionable choices in the game’s design and negative publicity, many players likely chose to spend their money and time on other games. Reports suggest that Yotei isn’t performing as well as Tsushima, clearly indicating that things didn’t go as planned.

Conclusion

I’m hearing a lot of skepticism about what Kern is saying, and honestly, it’s understandable – the numbers he’s shared seem to have come from unofficial sources and Sony hasn’t confirmed them yet. But I think we should pay attention. He’s been right before, and he actually pointed out that his previous leaks were completely accurate. He clearly believes in these new numbers too, and given his history, I’m inclined to listen.

It remains to be seen if he’ll succeed this time, but the main problem is that Yotei hasn’t connected with the people it was trying to reach.

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2025-12-02 20:57