Key takeaways
- Sean Layden, formerly president of Sony, has some simple advice for people complaining about the ghost of Yotei's female protagonist Atsu.
- There is clear historical evidence of women warriors in pre-modern Japan.
- All discourse is, as usual, nonsense.
Yotei's ghost was undoubtedly the biggest announcement from the state of play on Tuesday. Sucker Punch's follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Ghost of Tsushima has excited many fans, but the reveal of a female protagonist has outraged casual circles, prompting the PlayStation veteran to speak out against Ghost of Yotei's critics (thanks, GamesRadar+).
Shawn Layden, former president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, has some simple advice for people complaining about the ghost of Yotei's female lead. “It's a game. If you don't like it, don't buy it. In fact, why don't you make the game you want,” Layden offers.
He also added that Sucker Punch, the team of creators, believes in the project and wants to create it. The story of a studio like Sucker Punch being forced to pursue projects they are not passionate about is completely unfounded.
Leyden's comments are in response to a popular thread running on X where YouTuber Mightykeef referred to someone complaining about Yotei's protagonist being a female ghost as “a loser.”
Female Japanese warriors are well documented
The complaints are unfounded because warrior women have a deep-rooted history in Japan, with historical evidence of female warriors fighting in the Kamakura and Sengoku periods. Even if these indisputable historical facts didn't exist, acting like you can't take creative liberties with imagination is willfully stupid.
Assassin's Creed Shadows, set in 1579, faced some of the same criticism with the announcement of its dual protagonists Yasuke, a black samurai, and Naoe, a female shinobi. Despite the aforementioned points about Yasuke being a real person and female warriors applying to Nao, there were still absurd complaints about these characters.
Ghost of Yotei is set in Hokkaido in 1603, 300 years after the Ghost of Tsushima incident. You play as Atsu, a female Ronin called 'The Ghost' on a quest for revenge. Ghost of Yotei doesn't have a firm release date, but it's expected sometime in 2025.
