Hideo Kojima’s new action espionage game PHYSINT, originally developed in collaboration with Sony PlayStation, almost didn’t make it!
On September 9th, PlayStation announced via their official X account that they had made the “difficult decision” to stop cooperating with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on PHYSINT. Shortly after, Xbox announced they had reached a partnership with Kojima Productions, replacing PlayStation as PHYSINT’s publishing partner.
After both companies announced the news, Hideo Kojima himself clarified the timeline: PlayStation Studios had actually notified the studio about canceling the PHYSINT project in mid-June this year.
PHYSINT was originally revealed at the State of Play on January 31st, 2024, where Kojima himself appeared to announce a new “Action Espionage” game in partnership with PlayStation.
The title was seen as Kojima’s return to the espionage game genre he became famous for during his years at KONAMI creating the Metal Gear Solid series. Since its announcement, players have viewed PHYSINT as the spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid.
However, roughly two and a half years later, PlayStation suddenly announced their withdrawal.
PlayStation’s official statement said they decided to stop cooperation with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on PHYSINT, while emphasizing they still look forward to future collaboration with Kojima Productions.
In other words, PlayStation left the PHYSINT project, not their relationship with Kojima entirely.
Even more dramatic: shortly after PlayStation’s announcement, Xbox’s official X account announced they had partnered with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS and would publish PHYSINT, even issuing a press release. Microsoft must be pretty happy about this.
This isn’t the first time Xbox has worked with Kojima.
The two are already co-producing the horror game OD, which also involves director Jordan Peele and features actors Hunter Schafer, Sofia Lillis, and the late Udo Kier.
Now that PHYSINT has also moved to Xbox, the relationship between Kojima Productions and Xbox has clearly deepened.
On the other hand, Sony previously published KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS’ Death Stranding and DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH.
After PlayStation and Xbox made their statements, Kojima posted on his official English X account:
“In mid-June this year, we suddenly received notification from PlayStation Studios that they would be canceling the PHYSINT project.”
KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS had been in pre-production on PHYSINT since 2024, and there were rumors that after Death Stranding 2 launched last year, PHYSINT had gradually entered full development.
But PlayStation’s withdrawal clearly put the entire project in crisis.
Kojima said that to keep PHYSINT alive, the team had been relentlessly searching for new partners over the past three months.
“We were determined to keep this project going, so for the past three months we’ve been tirelessly seeking new partners. After consulting with people across various fields and conducting negotiations, we found a partner in Xbox who shares our vision for the future, so we decided to work with them again.”
In other words, this wasn’t a direct “handoff” between PlayStation and Xbox.
According to Kojima, after PlayStation exited in mid-June, KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS spent about three months searching for a new publisher before partnering again with Xbox, with whom they were already working on OD.
For players waiting for PHYSINT, the most important takeaway is: the game isn’t canceled.
Kojima clarified that development on PHYSINT has not stopped and will continue as planned.
So PlayStation’s “cancellation” actually refers to canceling the cooperation project between PlayStation Studios and KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS, not Kojima Productions themselves canceling the entire game.
The studio chose to save the project and find a new publishing partner willing to fund and distribute it, with Xbox ultimately taking over.
For a game that was originally revealed as the finale at a State of Play and positioned as Kojima’s major return to action espionage games, finding a new home within three months after the publisher withdrew at least means it didn’t become just a name that existed in a trailer.
GameObserver also noted that PlayStation has been adjusting its games and publishing strategy recently.
The report mentioned PlayStation recently decided to exit the physical media market and is expected to stop disc production in January 2028. There are also reports that Sony has decided to stop porting single-player games to PC, tightening the PlayStation ecosystem they gradually opened up in recent years.
And now, PHYSINT has also transformed from a PlayStation collaboration to an Xbox-published title.