PlayStation passed on Kojima's new game. Xbox immediately picked up the project
An unexpected turn of events. Sony ceased its collaboration with Kojima Productions and attempted to shut down the studio's new project. Fortunately, it was rescued by Microsoft, whose gaming division decided to serve as the publisher for the upcoming release.
The timeline of events is as follows:
- In January 2024, during a State of Play event, Hideo Kojima, alongside Hermen Hulst, announced a project with the working title PHYSINT.
- It is positioned as a spy action game that "blurs the line between film and games in terms of visual style, story depth, and production quality at the level of casting, style, and sound."
- At that time, it was anticipated that the game would be developed with the involvement of Columbia Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures.
- In May 2025, Kojima stated in an interview with the French publication Le Film Français that the project was still in the concept phase and that he was working on PHYSINT alone. He also noted that the game's development would take five to six years.
- Importantly, during this time, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was preparing for release. Plus, Kojima Productions was also working on a project called OD, published by XBOX. OD is a horror anthology that Kojima is developing jointly with Jordan Peele. Microsoft did not cancel this project in the summer of 2026.
- In September 2025, the first game cast was revealed, although development was still being carried out by Kojima alone.
- In December 2025, it was reported that motion capture for the game scenes would begin at the end of 2026. Rumors suggest that a team is being assembled for the game.
- For a long time, there was no news until, on September 10, Kojima announced that in mid-June, PlayStation Studios had unexpectedly notified him of the decision to cancel PHYSINT.
- Following this message, Kojima and his team began searching for a new partner. Negotiations with various market participants lasted three months.
- Ultimately, the new publisher for the project turned out to be XBOX, which now funds and publishes two Kojima Productions games.
- No information is available regarding the terms of the break with PlayStation or the details of the agreements with XBOX.