The real Japanese island of Tsushima awarded a prestigious award to two senior members of the Tsushima Ghost [62 articles]”href =” https://www.videogameschronicle.com/games/ghost-of-tsushima/ “> Ghost of Tsushima development team.
Game director Nate Fox [26 articles]”href =” https://www.videogameschronicle.com/people/nate-fox/ “> Nate Fox and creative director Jason Connell [26 articles]”href =” https://www.videogameschronicle.com/people/jason-connell/ “> Jason Connell will become permanent tourism ambassadors in the Tsushima city of Nagasaki, the island announced this week.
The ceremony will be held in digital format due to travel restrictions, and the pair will receive the award and a letter of thanks.
To mark the occasion, the city said it will collaborate with Sony Interactive Entertainment [1,218 articles]”href =” https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/sony/ “> Sony Interactive Entertainment to create a new tourism campaign based on the game, which aims to encourage fans to learn more about the island and its key Marcos.
In a statement, Tsushima’s mayor, Hiroki Hitakatsu, explained why the two received the honor.
“[Fox and Connell] spread Tsushima’s name and story to the whole world in such a wonderful way, ”he said.
“Even many Japanese people do not know the history of the Gen-ko period. When it comes to the world, Tsushima’s name and location are literally unknown, so I can’t thank you enough for telling our story with such phenomenal graphics and deep stories. “
The mayor explained that although the award has been awarded to notable Japanese in the past, this is the first time that it has been awarded to someone “who has spread Tsushima’s name and history through his works”.
“The appointment of a Tourism Ambassador is for today until Jason and Nate no longer want to,” he said. “In fact, I’ve been thinking and discussing naming the role for them since I found out that they were using Tsushima’s name as the name of their job.”
He added: “I did not designate them for the purpose of them doing anything in the future. Thanks to both, Sucker Punch Productions [38 articles]”href =” https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/sony/sucker-punch-productions/ “> Sucker Punch Productions and SIE, I heard from people around the world who learned about Tsushima through their work, and now I want to see, know and go to Tsushima. ”
Once the travel restrictions are lifted, Mayor Hitakatsu said he would like to invite Fox, Connell and the entire Sucker Punch team to Tsushima and said he hoped the visit “would make them love Tsushima even more”.
“I would really like to nominate all the Sucker Punch, SIE and game users who have been involved in the work as Tourism Ambassadors,” he said.
Tsushima obtained a new recognition after the release of Ghost of Tsushima last year. Ghost of Tsushima was released in July 2020 and became an immediate success.
The open-world PS4 action game sold more than 2.4 million copies globally in its first three days of sales, according to Sony, which set a new record for an original IP release.
In Japan, Ghost of Tsushima recorded the best sales of the week of launch of any original PlayStation 4 [2,766 articles]”href =” https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/playstation/ps4/ “> PlayStation 4 game so far.
In January, the popularity of the PlayStation [2,983 articles]”href =” https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/playstation/ “> The PlayStation game has helped fans to raise more than $ 260,000 to rebuild a sanctuary on the real island.
Yuichi Hirayama, a priest at Tsushima Watatsumi Shrine, launched a crowdfunding page last November to help rebuild a Torii gate that collapsed during a typhoon.
The crowdfunding effort was completed on Sunday with more than 540% of its 5,000,000 JPY ($ 47,500) goal raised. More than 2,000 people contributed to the project, including many fans of the PlayStation game from Sucker Punch.
“We received a lot of support from the players of the Ghost of Tsushima game, set in Tsushima, and I feel that it is God’s guidance,” wrote Hirayama on the crowdfunding page.
“I am very grateful for the support of so many people during a difficult life due to the coronavirus and the challenging economic situation.”
Sucker Punch appears to be working on more Ghost of Tsushima content, according to a recent job posting asking for a narrative designer who should have a “desire to write stories set in feudal Japan”.