Hideo Kojima opens up on Sony dropping Physint
Physint’s PS5 release now rests with Xbox
His first worry was not the project itself but the nearly 200 people at Kojima Productions, many of them hired specifically for Physint. Xbox, which already backs his horror title OD, stepped in, and the new partnership was announced on September 9.
In separate interviews with IGN and The Washington Post, the Metal Gear creator said Sony told him in mid-June that PlayStation would stop funding Physint, his upcoming espionage action title. He says he got no reason then and has not heard from the company since. Kojima says the news left his mind blank. Citing unnamed sources, the report said Physint had missed deadlines and was on track to run well over budget while still years from launch. Kojima says he holds no grudge. He told the Post he still uses Sony cameras and a Walkman, and that the two companies are not in a dispute. Asked by IGN about a PlayStation version, Kojima said that decision belongs to Xbox. Death Stranding ran on Decima, built by Sony-owned Guerrilla Games, and Kojima says he is still experimenting while eyeing the technical support Microsoft has offered.
Hideo Kojima has finally described the Zoom call that nearly brought down his studio. The independent studio signs contracts one project at a time, so losing one of its two deals could have meant layoffs or a cashflow crisis. It added that both Death Stranding titles fell short of PlayStation’s revenue expectations, and that Sony was reluctant to spend hundreds of millions on a project that wouldn’t stay exclusive. Bloomberg reports that Xbox plans to launch Physint on its consoles and PC. The engine is also undecided.
Sony’s reasoning surfaced through Bloomberg earlier this month.