Ghost of Tsushima producer on Insomniac Games: 'We were almost too intimidated to talk to them'

Before Ghost of Tsushima became one of PlayStation's biggest success stories, Sucker Punch Productions was just a small studio trying to keep up with the likes of Naughty Dog and Insomniac Games. In a recent creator-to-creator discussion, founder Brian Fleming admitted that the studio was so intimidated by its competition that they rarely even spoke to them.

"We always felt like the runt of the litter... We were almost too intimidated to talk to them," Fleming said

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The PS2 'Golden Era' (Credit: N4G)

During the PlayStation 2 era, Sucker Punch was still a young studio, having just landed its first major deal with Sony for Sly Cooper. Meanwhile, Insomniac and Naughty Dog had already established themselves as PlayStation powerhouses, releasing Ratchet & Clank and Jak and Daxter - games that defined the platforming genre at the time.

"They were much earlier. They had well-established, super long relationships with Sony, amazing successful games," Fleming explained. "You always feel like you're trying to catch up to your older siblings."

Despite feeling like the underdog, Sucker Punch steadily built its own identity. Fleming noted that PlayStation studios often learned from each other, shaping the ecosystem through shared creativity and respect.

"It's the collective power that really makes you realize this company has something special," he said. "It sounds cheesy, like the 'family' thing, but it's true. This is a network of people that have a shared passion."

Fleming reflected on how, during Sly Cooper's development, many studios were prioritizing high-quality cutscenes:

"When we were starting Sly, everybody was making beautiful cutscenes and animation." Fleming said. "Then you'd go to their game, and it was a PS2 game - it didn't look as good"

Sucker Punch's response was to the opposite. Instead of focusing on cinematic presentation, they crafted a vibrant 3D world that felt alive even outside of cutscenes. This iterative, somewhat contrarian philosophy carried forward over the years and ultimately influenced Ghost of Tsushima.

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Credit: Sucker Punch Productions

"When we did Ghost, there weren't a lot of games in that period in Japan at the time," Fleming said. "We're always going to look for a way to find our own little space."

Now, with Ghost of Tsushima surpassing 13 million copies sold and with Ghost of Yotei in development, Sucker Punch is certainly no longer playing catch-up - they're setting the pace.

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