In a big twist, Sony just dropped Hideo Kojima’s new spy game Physint, with Xbox swooping in to pick it up. But will Physint be exclusive to Xbox?
Kojima himself said in a new interview with IGN that he does not know. “That would be a question for Xbox. But I don’t know for sure,” he said.
Under former Xbox CEO Phil Spencer’s leadership, Microsoft began releasing some of its major games on rival platforms. Even Halo is on PlayStation today.
New CEO Asha Sharma has signaled a return to exclusives. Choices about exclusivity will be made case by case. Kojima said Microsoft’s ambition is to help its games reach the largest possible audience.
“In previous updates from Xbox, I thought that they have this kind of stance where they want to deliver to as many gamers as possible, no matter what the platform is,” Kojima said. “I think all of that will be announced at a later time. I’m not sure yet, and I can’t really say.”
Xbox is publishing not only Physint, but also Kojima’s horror game OD. Both games will feature celebrities. Bill Skarsgard will star in Physint, while OD features Hunter Schafer, Sophia Lillis, and the late Udo Kier.
Physint was reportedly over budget and late, which contributed to Sony’s decision to abandon it. Kojima Productions released a statement in response, saying people should treat the report with skepticism, though the company did not deny or refute the reporting. Kojima himself said he was “shocked” when he was informed on a Zoom call that Sony was dropping the game, especially because he believed it could be his best-selling game ever.
It is still early days for both Physint and OD, as neither game has a release date or much in the way of concrete information.