Kojima Productions has had itself a week in the news regarding Physint, it’s upcoming new action-espionage title. Hideo Kojima has spoken out surrounding the game’s cancellation at PlayStation, and he says he has no bad feelings, but, he was surprised.
Following the messy drop of funding from PlayStation regarding Physint, Kojima Productions has responded to the situation yesterday to offer their side of the story, and the person behind the studio, Hideo Kojima, sat down in an interview to discuss what happened at the studio before XBOX stepped in to partner with Kojima Productions.
Previously to this, there were reports that suggested PlayStation had dropped Physint due to the financial success (or lack thereof) with Death Stranding and it’s sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Kojima Productions has initially responded with a longform social media post, discounting that this was the case, saying “None of the claims written came from any official or on-the-record source and as such we encourage you to take them with a dose of scepticism,” and that post can be seen below.
In another interview with The Washington Post, Hideo Kojima also shared some more context around how he felt when PlayStation left the project. “We couldn’t understand it. Jim Ryan had already retired, but I thought this was a project that Sony Interactive Entertainment and I had agreed to team up on and make together,” adding, “This is the biggest selling title I could possibly create. I didn’t think Physint would be on the list of being canceled.”
Speaking to IGN, Hideo Kojima also stated, “I know there’s a lot of news in the game industry that many studios are closing down, many titles are canceled, and I understand the situation in the industry as a whole. But I thought Physint was okay. That Physint was safe. So I was surprised. But not just surprised. We didn’t understand the reason.” Kojima even believed some of his staff would leave upon the news the game was dropped by PlayStation, and he was surprised again when they stayed.
On the reasoning of why his company partnered with XBOX, Kojima said, “The biggest thing was, they’re not thinking of just funding a game. They’re thinking about movies and anime. It’s more about the IP. Let’s create a new IP,” adding, “Nintendo is doing something similar for Mario and Zelda with movies, attractions, and things like that. But I think that’s how Xbox sees it as well. Because it’s not the era of just game consoles. You create an IP, and it can be a game or a movie or music, and everything comes together.” Kojima concludes with the notion that this vision mathces his for the future.
Without naming names on who pulled product funding, Hideo Kojima also offered the notion the title could still release on PlayStation consoles. When asked whether Physint would release on PlayStation, Kojima said, “that would be a question for XBOX.” Ultimately, Hideo Kojima says his studio is “in a healthy, profitable state,” development for Physint continues to move forward with XBOX, and his company’s relationship with PlayStation remains strong.
