PS5 Exclusive Ghost of Yotei Triggers Tourism Push in Hokkaido, Japan, With Plans for Curated Tours of Locations Featured in the Game

Towns located adjacent the real-life Mount Yotei successful Hokkaido are readying to leverage the occurrence of Sucker Punch’s PlayStation 5 exclusive Ghost of Yotei to pull much visitors to the country extracurricular skis season. Official merch collaborations with section craftspeople and curated tours of in-game locations are conscionable immoderate of the initiatives successful the works.

Set successful 17th period Japan, Ghost of Yotei puts you successful the shoes of Atsu, a warrior mounting retired to instrumentality revenge connected the six men who slaughtered her family. Backed up by Sucker Punch's in-depth probe trips to Hokkaido, Ghost of Yotei recreates and shows disconnected the earthy quality of Mount Yotei and the surrounding area, prompting affirmative comments from Japanese radical surviving successful the country upon the game’s merchandise past October.

Now, towns successful the Niseko portion surrounding the existent beingness Mount Yotei are hoping to pull Ghost of Yotei fans to the area, arsenic reported by Nikkei (and spotted by VGC).

The existent beingness Mount Yotei is successful Shikotsu Toya National Park successful Hokkaido. Nearby is Niseko, which is already a fashionable tourer destination owed to its precocious snowfall, giving it a agelong skis play that runs from November to May. During highest months, luxury hotels successful the country complaint astir 200,000yen (approx. $1,200) per night, nevertheless this drops to astir 10,000yen ($60) successful the summertime off-season. The towns successful the Niseko country are hoping Ghost of Yotei volition gully much visitors to the portion adjacent erstwhile there’s nary snowfall around. “We anticipation that done playing the game, radical volition observe not lone the area’s wintertime scenery but besides its spring, summertime and autumn scenery, and that this volition pb to existent visits,” a spokesperson from the town’s readying and situation part told Nikkei.

With Ghost of Yotei selling implicit 3.3 cardinal copies by November 2025, a treatment radical was rapidly established to research tourism strategies related to the game. Seven towns successful the area, positive tourism associations joined the group. A typical from Niseko told Nikkei: “We privation to absorption these promotional efforts connected seasons different than winter.”

So far, Niseko has teamed up with a Tokyo-based institution specializing successful IP collaborations and are aiming to merchantability Ghost of Yotei T-shirts, with further plans to grow the scope of officially licensed merch. Local businesses are besides getting involved. Kumagera, which makes sustainable products carved from section wood, has already released a bid of Ghost of Yotei badges and magnets. There are besides plans to connection curated tours of locations featured successful the game.

Mount Yotei (6,227 ft) arsenic seen from Mount Kombu, Hokkaido prefecture. Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP.

Sucker Punch’s erstwhile crippled Ghost of Tsushima boosted visitors to Japan’s real-life Tsushima Island, resulting successful the game’s manager Nate Fox and originative manager Jason Connell being named taste ambassadors. However, much tourism to the land has been a spot of a double-edged sword. On the 1 hand, Tsushima’s Watazumi Shrine was repaired aft a typhoon acknowledgment to donations from Ghost of Tsushima fans. But connected the other, it ended up banning tourists successful March 2025 owed to the atrocious behaviour of immoderate visitors.

Verity Townsend is simply a Japan-based freelance writer who antecedently served arsenic editor, contributor and translator for the crippled quality tract Automaton West. She has besides written astir Japanese civilization and movies for assorted publications.