A rumor about an incoming Ghost of Tsushima release date reveal has been stirring up some conversations. Keep in mind though that there are a lot of loose connections and theories being brought up here, so take this rumor with a pretty big grain of salt.
Over on the game’s subreddit, user elderduddy370 stumbled across the title’s Amazon U.K. listing and noticed a tiny detail that got him theorizing. According to the box art image on Amazon, the game appears to have been rated by the PEGI (Pan European Game Information) organization—the European equivalent to the ESRB in the United State—to be suitable for players of the age of 16 and older. Elderduddy370 believed that this fact is significant because “games are only rated when they’re within a year of release at the most.” Could it be that we might be playing this game in less than a year or at least see some kind of update on Ghost of Tsushima sometime soon?
The process for getting a PEGI rating usually requires a game’s publisher to test their game for one of the several pieces of content that determine the age rating given to the game. The publisher then ships their game to PEGI for the organization to test and determine if their assessment is correct or if modifications to the listing need to be made. You can see the step-by-step process in PEGI’s video explaining how they determine the age rating. Given that, Ghost of Tsushima would need to be fairly far in development for PEGI to even classify it. This would be an interesting twist, given that a job listing posted last month seemed to imply that the game is still early in development. Although we don’t know for sure if the rating organization has even tested the game or if the label on the demo box art is even accurate.
To journey further down the rumor rabbit hole, Amazon UK does not seem to add ratings to a game’s image on its own. Looking at several other titles on the online retailer’s website (which also have yet to receive any release date reveal) shows that it is very uncommon for there to be a PEGI rating. The upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake, for example, still does not have any PEGI listing on Amazon U.K. Neither does Cyberpunk 2077 as of the time of this article, even hosting “PEGI TBC” in place of the age label. So the fact that Ghost of Tsushima has an age rating is very peculiar, so it could be an indicator that news is on its way. It could also be a total goof on Amazon’s part.
We do know that Ghost of Tsushima is a PS4 title though, and if Sony plans on releasing the PS5 in the latter half of 2020 (as many are anticipating), then it would make sense for Ghost of Tsushima to see a release sometime in the first half of the year.
Where this rumor starts to fall apart is in checking PEGI’s website, which does not yet list any data for Ghost of Tsushima. It’s unknown where Amazon UK got the image of the cover art, and Amazon listings have been wrong plenty of times before, so we shouldn’t take this as any kind of confirmation of the game’s status. If anything, it’s an interesting detail that may or may not be significant.
Jumping over to the game’s listing on the US Amazon website, the Ghost of Tsushima case simply has a Rating Pending ESRB label. It could be that the PEGI 16 label is Sucker Punch’s anticipated rating and merely a placeholder, equal to the RP label in the US. It might also be that PEGI has tested the game already where the ESRB has not.
News on Ghost of Tsushima has been sparse since last year’s E3 demo. Until we hear more from Sucker Punch, the best thing we can do is savor the scraps of info that we know to be true. Although, a rumor here and there sure helps in the wait for facts. We can also bask in recent news about other PS4 titles like Death Stranding, which surprisingly received a release date for later this year (and coincidentally, features its PEGI rating on the Amazon UK box art image). Give me your theories on what this PEGI listing could mean, if it means anything at all!
