PlayStation Parts Ways With Hideo Kojima’s PHYSINT Over Budget & Deadline Concerns, Report Claims

Hideo Kojima’s PHYSINT has taken a dramatic turn, with Xbox now stepping in as the game’s publisher after PlayStation walked away from the project. Kojima Productions confirmed that development is continuing with Xbox, but a new Bloomberg report sheds more light on why Sony decided to abandon the highly anticipated action-espionage game.

PHYSINT reportedly became too expensive for PlayStation

According to the latest Bloomberg report, people familiar with the project claim that PHYSINT had missed development deadlines and was on track to go well over budget despite still being years away from release (via IGN). The report also points to the commercial performance of Death Stranding and Death Stranding 2, which reportedly failed to meet PlayStation’s revenue expectations.

Another reported concern was exclusivity. Bloomberg says PlayStation was reluctant to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into another Kojima game that might not remain permanently exclusive to its hardware. Both Death Stranding games eventually expanded beyond PlayStation, while Kojima Productions retained ownership of the franchises.

The report also says that some Sony executives who had close relationships with Kojima have since left the company, potentially changing the internal support surrounding the project.

Xbox stepped in to keep PHYSINT alive

The situation could have ended with PHYSINT being cancelled entirely, but Kojima Productions quickly began searching for another partner. Kojima said PlayStation unexpectedly informed the studio in mid-June that it would cancel the project, after which the team spent roughly three months looking for a new publisher. It ultimately found that partner in Xbox.

Xbox has now officially confirmed that it will publish PHYSINT, expanding its existing partnership with Kojima Productions beyond OD. The companies also say their relationship will extend into film and television projects.

Interestingly, the change does not currently come with a confirmed Xbox-exclusive release. Platforms and a release date for PHYSINT have yet to be announced, so it is still too early to say exactly where the game will eventually land.