Ghost of Tsushima launched about a year ago now, leading to many fans hoping ahead of the announcement that Sucker Punch's open-world samurai adventure would get some additional content or the announcement of a sequel. The game was very well received by players and critics alike, with Ghost of Tsushima even going on to win multiple DICE Awards. The game was largely praised for its realistic portrayal of medieval Japan, its high-stakes combat mechanics, and its beautiful visual and audio design. with how well received the game was, the excitement surrounded the leaks of a standalone expansion were very understandable, as fans were eager to see what else the game's developers could do with the game's mechanics and systems.

Leaks began circulating of a standalone expansion to Ghost of Tsushima named Ghost of Ikishima just days before the announcement of Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut. The announcement proved the leaks largely false, but there are still some rumors that have turned out to be largely accurate in some interesting ways.

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The leak of Ghost of Ikishima began when a well-known Xbox leaker tweeted about the title's existence as an expansion similar to Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. This would mean that it would be a standalone game that exhibits a lot of the same mechanics and features as Ghost of Tsushima, but with some slight changes and new features such as expanding on available skills and equipment while recycling a lot of the game's models, systems, and animations to cut down on development time and costs. One question that fans had following the leaks, however, was whether the standalone expansion would be available on PlayStation 4. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is only available on PlayStation 5, so many fans were worried that Ghost of Ikishima would continue the trend.

Another Ghost of Ikishima leak said the expansion would feature an entirely new area on the island of Ikishima. The leaks did not have specifics on what story the expansion would feature, but the entirely new region was very enticing for fans as Ghost of Tsushima was widely praised for its gorgeous environments and exploration. Additionally, the new setting also allows the developers to make interesting new combat encounters and locations for stealth gameplay. Importantly, the leaks about Ghost of Ikishima seemed very believable, which led to a lot of the game's fans getting excited about an inevitable announcement.

The biggest aspect of Ghost of Ikishima that the leaks got wrong was that it was a standalone expansion. Instead, it has been revealed that it will be an expansion for the base game that is included in Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut. The Island of Ikishima will be available to players during the main game's campaign, meaning that players who have finished the base game can jump back in and head straight for the new content. New players who pick up Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut, however, will have to play through a bit of the game first to unlock the content.

Another aspect of the expansion that the leaks got wrong was that the expansion will be available on both the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5. The game even includes save transfers from PS4 to PS5, and the next-gen version of Ghost of Tsushima introduces a lot of new features taking advantage of the console's power and DualSense controller. Many fans theorized what features could come to a PlayStation 5 version ahead of the leak, and some of those were right, but the official game also includes some features that fans hadn't speculated about, such as lip-sync for Japanese voice-over and 3D audio support.

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The biggest part of the expansion that the leaks got right was the game's setting on the island of Ikishima. While the expansion not being standalone likely means that the section of the map is not as big as some fans may have hoped it would be, it is still an entirely new area for players to enjoy during their playthroughs, meaning much new content as well. Some of the Ghost of Ikishima leaks also pointed out that the expansion would keep many beloved elements of the original game such as Ghost of Tsushima's realism and focus on stealth to thin out enemy units. While all the specifics of the expansion have not been revealed, it is safe to assume that the expansion will likely feature stealth gameplay heavily as Ghost of Ikishima is building on the base game.

When the leaks about the expansion started circulating many fans also speculated that the expansion could lead to more content coming to Ghost of Tsushima's multiplayer mode as well. This also ended up being true, as the announcement of Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut was accompanied by the announcement of additional content coming for Ghost of Tsushima: Legends. The mode will be receiving an entirely new game mode, as well as developer Sucker Punk promising more free updates in the future.

While some fans may be disappointed that the new expansion is not a bigger, standalone release, it is exciting for fans either way. It also is great that the expansion will be available to players both on PlayStation 4 as well as PlayStation 5 so that even more players get to enjoy the new content, even if the upgrade between consoles won't be free for Ghost of Tsushima fans. Either way, fans should have a great reason to jump back into Ghost of Tsushima when Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut arrives next month.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut releases on August 20 for PS4 and PS5.

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