Ghost of Tsushima players are paying it forward after helping to raise money for the restoration of a real-life shrine in Tsushima Island in Japan. The Watatsumi Shrine was destroyed after a typhoon hit the island in September of last year. A few months later, a priest named Yuichi Hirayama launched a crowdfunding page to rebuild the Torii gate that was demolished in the storm. Over 2000 people donated to the restoration project, many of them were fans of Sucker Punch’s PlayStation game Ghost of Tsushima. According to Gamesradar, the page had an aim of 5,000,000 Yen ($47,500) and ended up raising 27,000,00 Yen or $260,000 dollars. 

The Watatsumi Shrine in Tsushima, damaged by a recent Typhoon, has raised enough for repairs! Amazing to see the community come together to support rebuilding a beautiful landmark so future generations can enjoy it. Hopefully more people can visit Tsushima to experience it! https://t.co/Trc6NgAbFJ

— Ghost of Tsushima 🎮 Sucker Punch Productions (@SuckerPunchProd) January 12, 2021

The shrine’s priest, Hirayama, thanked the gaming community, saying they “received a great deal of support from the players of the Ghost of Tsushima game.” The gate will start being worked on in April and should be completed in August. Each person who donated more than 10,000 Yen will have their names engraved onto a plate and will be added to the shrine. According to VGC, the Watatsumi Shrine is dedicated to the deities Hikohohodemino Mikoto and Toyotamabime. The Shrine’s Twitter page posts a lot about Ghost of Tsushima and the accuracy of the game’s portrayal of Tsushima Island. The Watatsumi Shrine did not appear in the game, however, many famous landmarks of the Island are featured in the game. 

The open-world action game released in July 2020 broke the PlayStation original IP launch record after its release, selling more than 2.4 million copies in its first three days.