Ghostwire: Tokyo

Ghostwire: Tokyo is an upcoming action-adventure game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. The game is set to be released worldwide in October 2021 for PlayStation 5 and Windows and in late 2022 for Xbox Series X/S.

Gameplay

Ghostwire: Tokyo is an action-adventure video game played from a first-person perspective. The player can use various psychic and paranormal abilities to defeat the ghosts and spirits haunting Tokyo. Combat director Shinichiro Hara described the combat as "karate meets magic", as the player character utilizes hand movements inspired by Kuji-kiri hand gestures to cast spells. When an enemy loses most of their health, its core is exposed and the player can use takedown moves to destroy it, defeating the spirit.

Development

In June 2019, during Bethesda Softworks's press conference at E3 2019, Shinji Mikami and creative director Ikumi Nakamura announced Ghostwire: Tokyo, an action-adventure game with horror elements. Nakamura later resigned from Tango Gameworks in September 2019, leaving the studio after nine years. Unlike The Evil Within series of video games, Ghostwire is primarily an action-adventure game instead of a survival horror game, though the game still retains a couple horror themes and elements. Shinichiro Hara, who worked on the combat of 2016's Doom, joined Tango to help the team craft the game's action-orientated combat. According to him, the game's combat, which was largely inspired by Kuji-kiri and martial arts, enabled the team to "put a lot more movement and personality into the player action as the player’s hands are organic extensions of the character". The game is set to be released for PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Windows in October 2021.

On September 21, 2020, Bethesda Softworks' parent company, ZeniMax Media and Microsoft announced Microsoft's intent to buy ZeniMax and its studios, including Tango Gameworks, for US$7.5 billion, incorporating the studios as part of Xbox Game Studios, with the sale finalized on March 9, 2021. Xbox Game Studios head Phil Spencer said that this deal will not affect Ghostwire: Tokyo's current planned platform-exclusive released on the PlayStation 5, and will remain exclusive there for a year before arriving on Xbox consoles.