Hideo Kojima’s upcoming action-espionage title, Physint, and its recent casting call shed some light on certain elements within the game.
Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions are hard at work, developing Physint and OD after the massive push on Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. While it will be a long time until Physint and OD make their grand debut, new casting call information has hinted at certain details that give away one of the game’s scenes. The last official update on Physint was at the Beyond the Strand presentation in September 2025, when some of the cast were announced but not the leads.
Initial reports on this casting call came from an MP1ST report, which lists the project’s internal codename as ‘Shimmer’ for casting. The casting calls are for a mother holding her newborn, five teenagers of different ethnicities, and two male passengers. So far, the villain role description was the most intriguing, since it mentions a character who is “Confident in a psychotic way. Calm and cold killer type”. Moreover, he “must have a German accent” and has been described as “Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal but with flair.”
This is an interesting move by the game’s antagonist. Kojima has been good at tapping in Hollywood A-list actors to play the big bad. Potentially, this villain role could be just a mini-boss or minor antagonist. Or it could be a little bit of smoke and mirrors.
The casting director was also revealed to be Mari Ueda, who was responsible for casting Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and for mocap work through their company, Pivot Motion. The scene described in Physint’s casting call apparently included a 17-year-old teenager, a mother, and a passenger who are aboard a hijacked bus. Even if this does not reveal anything major, it is some interesting details for a game Kojima noted may not be coming out for at least “another five or six years.” Given that timeline, it is safe to assume we are looking at a release window of 2030 or 2031, making this title almost certainly aimed at the PlayStation 6.
The latest casting details from the Beyond the Strand presentation revealed Charlee Fraser (Furiosa: A Mad Max Story), Don Lee (Train to Busan), and Minami Hamabe (Godzilla: Minus One) were cast in Physint. However, they were not chosen as the protagonist. What makes this game exciting for gamers is that this will be the first action-espionage game that Kojima has worked on since the Metal Gear series with Konami. Games like Snake Eater and The Phantom Pain were praised for their film-like aesthetics, so fans will be eager to see what Kojima has cooking from the genre that made him famous.
We have already seen a teaser for OD, so that appears to be the next game on Kojima Productions’ slate. This partnered project with Xbox hopes to bring the bone-chilling horror that Kojima wanted to bring to the Silent Hills P.T. project that was scrapped. Kojima is collaborating with Jordan Peele on this game, in some capacity. I could see how Peele’s writing could influence this upcoming horror title. For now, more details on OD and Physint have yet to be seen.
