After legendary game developer Shinji Mikami founded Tango Gameworks, the studio set out to make The Evil Within, a classic-style survival-horror game that earned positive reviews and sold well enough to spawn a sequel. Instead of making The Evil Within 3 for its next game, Tango Gameworks is working on a brand-new IP called Ghostwire: Tokyo, though it's possible that it could be the start of a new franchise of its own.

Game Rant recently spoke with Ghostwire: Tokyo Executive Producer Shinji Mikami and Game Director Kenji Kimura about the upcoming action-adventure game. We asked if Tango Gameworks foresees Ghostwire: Tokyo becoming its own franchise. Mikami said, "I wasn't really thinking of this becoming a very long numbered title franchise, but depending on how it sells and how consumers react to it, then definitely we can start at that point considering a sequel."

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Kimura added, "We definitely as developers want to make a fun, enjoyable experience and the more and more we start digging into it, there are more ideas that spawn for a sequel. But it all depends on sales and how the world reacts to the game." So while a Ghostwire: Tokyo sequel may not be in the planning stages just yet, Tango Gameworks does have some ideas on what it may want to do with it if the first game is a success.

ghostwire tokyo key art

Early reactions to Ghostwire: Tokyo gameplay footage seems to be mostly positive, and that combined with Tango's track record of delivering quality games could very well help it become a sales success. However, there are admittedly some things working against it. For one, Ghostwire: Tokyo has a potentially niche premise and is heavily based on Japanese culture. This is not a bad thing by any means, but it does mean it could have less appeal for western audiences.

The other issue is that the Ghostwire: Tokyo release date lands on the same day as other major game releases. March 25 is crowded right now, with Ghostwire: Tokyo joined by the likes of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. The good news is that there's not necessarily a ton of overlap between the audiences of those games, as Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is a co-op shooter and Kirby and the Forgotten Land is Switch exclusive, but it could still prove problematic for the game's early sales. And then there's the fact that Ghostwire: Tokyo is a timed-PS5 console exclusive, which limits its potential audience even further.

However, that's just speculation at this time. Ghostwire: Tokyo could very well be a smash hit out of the gate regardless of the stiff competition it faces. And even if it doesn't live up to expectations, one would think that the eventual Xbox version would come to Xbox Game Pass at some point, meaning it always has the chance to grow its audience in future.

Ghostwire: Tokyo launches March 25 for PC and PS5.

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