Ghost of Yotei Timeline

Ghost of Yotei is set in 1603, in Ezo, the northern land that is now Hokkaido in Japan. Its backstory begins sixteen years earlier, in 1587, when the Yotei Six attacked Atsu's family. That puts the game 329 years after Ghost of Tsushima, which is set in 1274 during the first Mongol invasion of Japan.

The year matters. 1603 is when Tokugawa Ieyasu was appointed shogun, three years after his victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, which marks the start of the Edo period. Ghost of Yotei's story of a renegade lord trying to seize Ezo plays out at that moment of change.

This timeline combines the game's fictional events with the real historical dates around them. Entries marked as history are real events; the others are part of the story. It stays spoiler-free: for the full plot, see our Ghost of Yotei story guide.

Everything in the main game happens in 1603, but the story still follows a clear order. Atsu starts with the Snake, then works through the three big arcs that open new regions of the map, and finishes with Lord Saito. This list names targets and regions only, without revealing what happens in each arc.

Ghost of Tsushima is set in 1274 on Tsushima Island, where Jin Sakai fights the first Mongol invasion. Ghost of Yotei is set in 1603 in Ezo, far to the north. The 329 years between them mean there are no returning characters in the main story: Jin has been dead for centuries by Atsu's time. The games share a name and a style, not a direct plot.

Jin Sakai does appear in Ghost of Yotei, but only as a playable character in the Most Wanted mode added on October 1, 2026, which is a separate combat mode rather than part of the story.

There are two Ghost games so far, and they are in the same order whether you sort them by release date or by the year they are set in: Ghost of Tsushima first (1274, released 2020), then Ghost of Yotei (1603, released 2025). Because the stories are independent, you can start with either one. Our Ghost of Yotei release date page lists every launch and update date.

The Battle of Sekigahara on October 21, 1600 is often called the most important battle in Japanese history. Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army defeated the Western Army loyal to Ishida Mitsunari, and in 1603 the emperor appointed Ieyasu shogun. His government ruled Japan for about two and a half centuries, until 1868. Ghost of Yotei begins in that same year, and the Echoes of Sekigahara expansion shows Atsu's time as a mercenary in the battle itself.

Ezo at the time was mostly Ainu land. The Matsumae clan held a small fief in the far south, around today's town of Matsumae, and in 1604 Ieyasu gave them exclusive rights to trade with the Ainu. Most of the island stayed outside Japanese control until the late 19th century. In the game, the Matsumae clan is loyal to the shogun and at war with Lord Saito, who wants to rule Ezo as "Shogun of the North". Sucker Punch consulted local Ainu people while researching the game.

No. The setting is real, but the story is fiction. Ezo, the Ainu, the Matsumae clan, Tokugawa Ieyasu's rise and the Battle of Sekigahara are all historical. Atsu, Lord Saito, the Yotei Six and their war over Ezo are invented for the game. Mount Yotei itself is a real volcano in southwestern Hokkaido, which is where the game gets its name. The island was only renamed Hokkaido in 1869; in Atsu's time it was Ezo. Several map regions, such as Ishikari, Tokachi, Teshio and Oshima, are named after places in Hokkaido that still carry those names today.