Ghost of Yōtei
Nov 8, 2025
A quick and easy guide to fixing the Ghost of Yotei black screen issue on PS5 so your game finally loads without freezing. Photo by: Playstation
If you just searched ghost of yotei black screen PS5 or something like Why does Ghost of Yotei not load on PlayStation 5, this is probably not your first attempt trying to boot the game.
The logo appears the screen fades and then everything goes dark like the game and the console stopped talking to each other. No sound no menu no animation. Just a blank screen and rising anger.

I went through the same thing. I launched Ghost of Yotei excited and fully ready to play and instead I stared at a pitch black screen for nearly two minutes wondering if my console died. Turns out a lot of PS5 players are running into the same startup freeze.
The good news is that this usually is not permanent and you do not need to delete everything or factory reset your PlayStation. There are several simple fixes and one of them will usually solve the issue.
The ghost of yotei black screen PS5 issue is almost always related to software or video output miscommunication. Some common causes include:
Corrupted cached data
Outdated game version
PS5 rest mode glitch
HDR or resolution conflict
Install errors especially on external storage
Video handshake failure with certain TVs or monitors
Even though it feels like the game is broken there are fixes.
First try the simple approach.
Close Ghost of Yotei
Press the PS button
Select Restart PS5
Launch the game again
A warm reboot clears temporary memory and fixes minor startup bugs.
Many players reported that Ghost of Yotei freezes only when launched after the console wakes from rest mode.
Go to
-> Settings
-> System
-> Power Saving
-> Features Available in Rest Mode
Turn off:
Resume Games
Stay Connected
Then restart your PS5 and open the game again.
Sometimes the game launches but the console fails to display the signal correctly. This is common with certain HDR TVs or HDMI settings.
Go to:
-> Settings
-> Screen and Video
-> Video Output
Change:
Resolution to Automatic
HDR to Off or Always On
VRR to Off for now
Try launching Ghost of Yotei again.
If you installed Ghost of Yotei on an external drive this might be the cause. Some players fixed the issue instantly by moving the installation.
Go to:
-> Settings
-> Storage
-> Games and Apps
-> Ghost of Yotei
-> Move to Console Storage
Restart the game after.
A lot of new releases need quick patches after launch. You should check both the game update and the system software.
Go to:
-> Settings
-> System
-> System Software
-> Update
Restart afterward.
This one solved it for me and many other players.
Steps:
Turn off your PS5 completely
Hold the power button until the second beep
Select Clear Cache and Rebuild Database
This removes corrupted startup files without deleting saved data.
If nothing else solves it you can delete Ghost of Yotei and reinstall it fresh on internal storage.
Make sure the console stays connected and do not interrupt the installation.
If you want a fast order to try follow this:
Restart the PS5
Turn off rest mode resume
Adjust HDR and resolution
Move the game to internal storage
Update game and console
Clear cache in safe mode
One of these steps fixes it for most players.
Dealing with the ghost of yotei black screen PS5 bug is frustrating especially when all you want to do is finally start the game. The good news is that it is almost always a software conflict and not a broken console.

Once you get past that startup freeze the game runs smoothly and looks great and hopefully future patches eliminate the issue completely.