From a shock Zoom call to an Xbox deal: Hideo Kojima explains what happened to Physint
Hideo Kojima has finally described the Zoom call that nearly brought down his studio. 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. His first worry was not the project itself but the nearly 200 people at Kojima Productions , many of them hired specifically for Physint. 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. Xbox , which already backs his horror title OD, stepped in, and the new partnership was announced on September 9.
Kojima kept Sony's Physint call secret from his own staffFor the first few days, Kojima told IGN, only he, studio president Shinji Hirano and head of talent development Aki Saito knew. Bank loans were on the line, and actors had already been scanned. He also had Silent Hills on his mind, the Konami project cancelled in 2015 after its P.T. teaser became a cult hit. "I didn't want to do the same thing we did for P.T.," he said.
Hirano told the Post that Kojima walked straight back to his desk after the call and kept writing the concept. Three days later, Kojima briefed his Physint leads and promised to find a new partner. Part of the team moved to OD while a small core group stayed on. Nobody quit and nobody was laid off, he said.
His confidence in the project hasn't dipped. "This is the biggest selling title I could possibly create," he told the Post.
Kojima Productions disputes reports of a costly, delayed PhysintSony's reasoning surfaced through Bloomberg earlier this month. Citing unnamed sources, the report said Physint had missed deadlines and was on track to run well over budget while still years from launch. 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.
Kojima Productions responded on X, urging fans to treat those claims with scepticism since none came from on-the-record sources. The studio said it is in a "healthy, profitable state" and that its ties with PlayStation remain strong. It did not contest any specific figure in the report.
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.
Physint's PS5 release now rests with XboxBloomberg reports that Xbox plans to launch Physint on its consoles and PC. Asked by IGN about a PlayStation version, Kojima said that decision belongs to Xbox. The engine is also undecided. 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.
What won Xbox over was a pitch bigger than a single release. Kojima framed Physint as a new IP spanning films, anime and TV, and the deal includes screen rights for both Physint and OD. An Xbox spokesperson told Bloomberg that backing Kojima was "an easy call."
Physint stars Bill Skarsgard, Charlee Fraser, Don Lee and Minami Hamabe, and has no release window yet. For a studio turning 10 and a creator marking 40 years in the industry, the June call could have been the end. Instead, the team that was never told the project was dead is still building it.
Kojima says the news left his mind blank. His first worry was not the project itself but the nearly 200 people at Kojima Productions , many of them hired specifically for Physint. 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. Xbox , which already backs his horror title OD, stepped in, and the new partnership was announced on September 9.
Kojima kept Sony's Physint call secret from his own staffFor the first few days, Kojima told IGN, only he, studio president Shinji Hirano and head of talent development Aki Saito knew. Bank loans were on the line, and actors had already been scanned. He also had Silent Hills on his mind, the Konami project cancelled in 2015 after its P.T. teaser became a cult hit. "I didn't want to do the same thing we did for P.T.," he said.
Hirano told the Post that Kojima walked straight back to his desk after the call and kept writing the concept. Three days later, Kojima briefed his Physint leads and promised to find a new partner. Part of the team moved to OD while a small core group stayed on. Nobody quit and nobody was laid off, he said.
His confidence in the project hasn't dipped. "This is the biggest selling title I could possibly create," he told the Post.
Kojima Productions disputes reports of a costly, delayed PhysintSony's reasoning surfaced through Bloomberg earlier this month. Citing unnamed sources, the report said Physint had missed deadlines and was on track to run well over budget while still years from launch. 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.
Kojima Productions responded on X, urging fans to treat those claims with scepticism since none came from on-the-record sources. The studio said it is in a "healthy, profitable state" and that its ties with PlayStation remain strong. It did not contest any specific figure in the report.
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.
Physint's PS5 release now rests with XboxBloomberg reports that Xbox plans to launch Physint on its consoles and PC. Asked by IGN about a PlayStation version, Kojima said that decision belongs to Xbox. The engine is also undecided. 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.
What won Xbox over was a pitch bigger than a single release. Kojima framed Physint as a new IP spanning films, anime and TV, and the deal includes screen rights for both Physint and OD. An Xbox spokesperson told Bloomberg that backing Kojima was "an easy call."
Physint stars Bill Skarsgard, Charlee Fraser, Don Lee and Minami Hamabe, and has no release window yet. For a studio turning 10 and a creator marking 40 years in the industry, the June call could have been the end. Instead, the team that was never told the project was dead is still building it.
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