TL;DR: Kojima Productions urged skepticism toward Jason Schreier’s Bloomberg piece about PlayStation leaving Hideo Kojima’s PHYSINT, saying the report cited no officiales under Xbox, and its relationship with PlayStation remains strong, while Kojima described shock at Sony’s mid-June withdrawal.
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Kojima Productions has pushed back against a Bloomberg report from earlier this month, which claimed to explain why PlayStation walked away from Hideo Kojima’s upcoming action-espionage game PHYSINT. Kojima Productions has now urged fans to treat the claims “with a dose of skepticism.“
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported on September 11 that Sony pulled out of backing the development of Hideo Kojima’s next title, “PHYSINT,” over concerns surrounding its budget, profitability, and exclusivity. The report cited unnamed people familiar with the project and also claimed Death Stranding and Death Stranding 2 failed to meet PlayStation’s revenue expectations, while PHYSINT had missed deadlines and was on track to run well over budget. On top of that, current timelines estimate PHYSINT is still years from release.
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Kojima Productions responded to those claims in an X post on September 20, saying none of them came from “any official or on-the-recordiated speculation,” but felt it had to respond because the report had raised questions about its relationship with PlayStation, the commercial performance of the Death Stranding franchise, and PHYSINT’s development
- Read more: Report: Sony broke up with Kojima over budget concerns, missed deadlines, disappointing sales revenue
- Read more: Kojima shares details on Sony breakup, says PlayStation abruptly cancelled PHYSINT months ago
- Read more: Hideo Kojima will show off ‘future projects’ at big 10-year studio anniversary event
Importantly, Kojima Productions did not deny each individual claim Bloomberg made. Instead, the director stressed that the studio remains healthy and profitable, that development of PHYSINT is continuing under Xbox, and that its relationship with PlayStation remains strong.
Sony announced on September 10 that it was stepping away from PHYSINT, which was followed by Kojima revealing that PlayStation Studios had unexpectedly notified him in mid-June that it intended to cancel the project, prompting his studio to spend roughly three months searching for a new publishing partner before it finally reached an agreement with Xbox.
What does Kojima Productions mean by saying PHYSINT is now continuing under Xbox?
How would PlayStation stepping away affect PHYSINT’s release timeline and budget?
Bloomberg’s report said PHYSINT had already missed deadlines and was still years from release, with the project on track to run well over budget. Kojima later said PlayStation stopped funding the game in June, and his studio spent roughly three months looking for a new publishing partner before reaching an agreement with Xbox. Kojima Productions did not confirm those budget and timeline claims, and said fans should treat them with skepticism.
Question #3
Did Kojima Productions address the claim that Death Stranding and Death Stranding 2 missed PlayStation’s revenue expectations?
Why was Sony said to have canceled PHYSINT in June after previously backing it?
Have a question that isn’t listed here? Ask below, and TweakBot will answer it.
“We are an independent company, so no funding is behind us as a corporation. We sign contracts according to projects, and that’s how we survive one by one as an indie. So I need to find a new project before the previous project ends, and that’s how we stay alive. That’s our background situation.
So in June, SIE said they wanted to have a Zoom call. 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.
Anyway, 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. I didn’t have any anger or sadness; my first thought was, “What am I going to do with my studio?” Because we signed contracts for projects,” said Kojima in a statement to IGN
