Sony has revealed today that it will no longer be working with Kojima Productions on stealth action game Physint, while Kojima announced that Xbox has stepped up to rescue the project. The change in publishers means both of Kojima’s upcoming projects are now being made in partnership with Xbox, a departure from his long history of developing games for the PlayStation.
PlayStation’s official statement didn’t say why it chose to end its support of Physint, leaving gamers to speculate on the reasons behind its shock exit. “We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima’s vision for the game,” Sony said, adding, “we look forward to continued close collaboration with Hideo Kojima and his award-winning independent studio in the future.”
Kojima posted from his personal account with more details, saying that PlayStation cancelled Physint as of mid-June this year, and the new collaboration with Xbox came as a result of the studio’s determination to keep the project alive.
“We’re honored that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox to work with Kojima Productions on Physint,” said Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in a statement. “His ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at Xbox.”
Though it may be surprising after Kojima’s long history of collaborating with PlayStation, from his work at Konami to both Death Stranding games, Kojima also has an existing working relationship with Xbox, which is publishing his upcoming horror game OD.
Xbox’s statement added that its collaboration with Kojima Productions will go beyond these two games, also collaborating “across film and television to bring new stories to broader audiences.”
Kojima assured fans that despite the change in publishers, development on Physint “is ongoing and will continue moving forward,” though the game is still likely in an early phase of development. Kojima has said that Physint will be his return to Metal Gear-like action-espionage games, adding that it would use cutting-edge technology to blur the lines between movies and video games.