Sony’s announcement that it would no longer publish Physint for PlayStation came as a shock, especially to the game’s director, Hideo Kojima. While Xbox has since stepped in to save the project, there was still plenty of speculation as to why Sony was passing on it, with some people claiming that Kojima had begun to miss deadlines and was going over budget on his Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor. In a new interview, Kojima has revealed more details about the project and how Sony delivered the bad news back to him in June.
“So in June, Sony Interactive Entertainment said they wanted to have a Zoom call,” Kojima said to IGN. “I was so busy at that time–I had just gone to New York for a Prada event and then to LA right after. But anyway, I came back, and we had this Zoom call. They said they can no longer fund development for Physint. I was shocked, and I said, ‘What did you say?’ I couldn’t quite process what they had said. I wasn’t sure because I was in shock.”
Kojima didn’t elaborate on who he spoke to during that meeting, and he didn’t say why Sony decided to cease funding the development of Physint. What Kojima did know was that he needed to move fast to protect his studio, Kojima Productions, which currently employs around 200 people. Initially, only Kojima, Kojima Productions president Shinji Hirano, and head of talent development Aki Saito knew about Sony’s decision. This led to several months of Kojima looking to find a new partner for Physint, with Xbox eventually signing a deal with the veteran developer.
As for the aftermath? It doesn’t sound like Kojima is holding a grudge against Sony, as he explained to IGN that he has “no bad feelings” towards the company.
“Make no mistake, this was a serious situation for the studio with a range of potentially significant implications.” Kojima wrote in an X post, possibly in response to Bloomberg’s story about the game facing development challenges. “While we recognize that the article may have caused alarm, we want to reassure you all, for the record: that the studio is in a healthy, profitable state, development for Physint continues to move forward with Xbox, and our relationship with PlayStation remains strong.”
Physint closed out Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show broadcast last week, with Kojima revealing that Bill Skarsgard had been cast as the protagonist of his stealth-action game.