Weekend Highlights (September 19-20)

The budget for The Blood of Dawnwalker has been revealed, Hideo Kojima shared new details about Sony's rejection of PHYSINT, and analysts have estimated the launch sales of Marvel’s Wolverine. Here are the main events in the gaming industry from the past weekend.

• The game director of The Blood of Dawnwalker, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, stated in an interview with Bloomberg that the game's production cost about $40 million. These funds were provided by the Chinese company NetEase, which acquired a 26% stake in the studio at the end of 2022. Tomaszkiewicz also noted that the full-fledged development of The Blood of Dawnwalker began nearly a year after receiving the investments. At that time, Rebel Wolves had 90 employees, and there were no plans to expand the team, but it eventually grew. Now the studio employs 160 people, with many initially hired as temporary contractors but later integrated into the team permanently.
• The head of Kojima Productions gave a major interview to IGN, discussing the fate of the spy action game codenamed PHYSINT. During the conversation, Kojima mentioned that several years ago, the project was personally approved by Jim Ryan, who then headed Sony's gaming division. Therefore, the company's recent decision to cease collaboration on PHYSINT came as a shock to the developer. According to Kojima, Sony's management informed him of the termination via a Zoom video call. He doesn’t recall much of what the managers said at the time, as the news caused his mind to go blank with anxiety about the future of Kojima Productions — would the studio survive it, or face bankruptcy? Kojima admitted that after the fateful call, he agreed with the other leaders of Kojima Productions not to disclose anything to the employees to prevent unnecessary worry and then set about refining the concept of PHYSINT. Ultimately, the studio found a partner in XBOX, and Kojima holds no grudges against Sony — he understands that the gaming industry is going through tough times right now.
• Meanwhile, Kojima Productions released a statement commenting on a report by journalist Jason Schreier from September 11. The studio urged a skeptical view of the claims in the article and emphasized that it is in a stable (and profitable) financial position. To recap, Schreier reported, citing his sources, that both parts of Death Stranding did not meet Sony's expectations, and PHYSINT had already exceeded its initial budget, although its release was still years away.
• Three days after its release, Marvel’s Wolverine sold 1.9 million copies worldwide, claims Alinea Analytics. According to analysts, the game generated $130 million in revenue over the same period, with 22.9% coming from physical edition sales. It is suggested that the project by Insomniac Games has already surpassed last year’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (considering only the PlayStation 5 version's figures), with Sony console sales now estimated at 1.8 million copies and revenue at $129 million. Furthermore, analysts named Marvel’s Wolverine the most successful new release from Sony studios on PlayStation 5 in 2026. For comparison: MLB The Show generated $99 million from 1.5 million copies sold, while Saros generated $40 million from 510,000 copies sold. Alinea Analytics writes that the main market for Marvel’s Wolverine was the United States, accounting for 53% of the game's audience.