Sony drops Kojima's Physint, Xbox picks up the spy game
Sony has dropped Hideo Kojima's spy game Physint, and Xbox will publish it instead.
The switch became public through a run of interviews in September. Kojima gave an exclusive first interview since the split to IGN, conducted by IGN Japan's Daniel Robson, and also discussed the break in an interpreted interview with The Washington Post.
It started with a call in June. Sony requested a Zoom meeting with Kojima about Physint. Kojima Productions president Shinji Hirano and head of talent development Aki Saito joined him on the call. Sony told them it could no longer fund development of the game.
Kojima said he was "just shocked and surprised" by the decision. He said he felt no anger or sadness about it. He told no one at first. He initially kept the news from staff at Kojima Productions.
The fear was cash. Kojima said his studio is independent, with no corporate funding, and survives on per-project contracts. That is, it is paid job by job to make games for publishers. Losing Physint could force cuts to the Physint team and collapse the studio through loss of cashflow. He said the studio has only two projects: Physint and OD, a horror game made in partnership with Xbox.
Why Sony pulled out is still contested. Kojima's IGN interview took place before a Bloomberg report that linked the split to missed deadlines, budget concerns and the commercial performance of Death Stranding. According to reporting on that account cited by GameSpot, journalist Jason Schreier reported that Sony walked away after Kojima Productions went over budget and missed deadlines. Kojima himself has not given a financial reason. He said bank loans had helped the studio hire staff after the release of Death Stranding.
What makes this stand out is what Physint is meant to be. Kojima described it as a new action espionage game, partly inspired by fan demand for another Metal Gear. He no longer works at Konami, so he cannot make a new Metal Gear. His answer is an original spy story. "Anything espionage is going to be fun, period, no matter what game it is," he said.
The game is early. Kojima said Physint is still in the concept phase, with a very small team working on its systems, visuals and design. The tagline is "The next cold war begins." Actors had already been scanned for the game before Sony ended funding. The cast includes Bill Skarsgard, Charlee Fraser, Don Lee and Minami Hamabe.
Kojima pitched Microsoft to save it. He approached the company and new Xbox boss Asha Sharma to take over publishing. The studio now says development continues to move forward with Xbox. That change could have a sharp edge for players. After the move to Xbox, Physint may not release on PlayStation at all.
Kojima is talking up its prospects. "This is the biggest selling title I could possibly create," he said. "I didn't think Physint would be on the list of being canceled."
For fans, this means a long wait with a new publisher. Kojima Productions stated to IGN that the studio is in a healthy, profitable state, and that its relationship with PlayStation remains strong.
