- PlayStation wanted to cancel PHYSINT earlier this year, leading to Hideo Kojima's partnership with Xbox.
- Hideo Kojima and Xbox announced a new partnership that will extend beyond video games such as PHYSINT to film and television
- Hideo Kojima's PHYSINT, alongside OD, will be published by Xbox for the foreseeable future.
On September 9, 2026, PlayStation officially announced that it is stepping away from collaborating with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on its upcoming project PHYSINT. For those not familiar, PHYSINT is a next-generation action-espionage game, developed by none other than the godfather of modern stealth video games, Hideo Kojima.
With Sony stepping down, Xbox has now extended its partnership, and development on PHYSINT is back on track. However, the entire situation is rather convoluted. Here’s what you need to know.
Hideo Kojima created the critically acclaimed Metal Gear franchise and Death Stranding 2; for PlayStation to step away from another golden opportunity is rather odd. This marks a significant change from when the project was first announced in 2024 and was being developed in cooperation with Sony.
Sony still maintains that they have an understanding with Hideo Kojima and look forward to working with him in the future. This is what PlayStation had to say: “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on its project PHYSINT. We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima’s vision for the game“.
They go on to state that the relationship remains strong after three decades of industry-leading, genre-defining creative cooperation, and so forth. However, contradictions come to light when looking at recent events from Hideo Kojima’s side of the story.
PlayStation Wanted to Cancel Project PHYSINT Two Years After Agreeing to Publish It
While PlayStation praises him, he revealed that Sony wanted to cancel project PHYSINT. This happened while the game was in production. This is what Hideo Kojima had to say in an official statement: “In mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the PHYSINT project.“
It is unclear why PlayStation decided to cancel project PHYSINT; they have yet to provide any insight. However, fans are speculating it could be related to Hideo Kojima’s stance on PlayStation killing physical discs. He was vocal and supported gamers who advocated for owning physical copies of their game. However, there is a bright side to the story.
Hideo Kojima, in his statement, further stated that after searching for three months, they were able to partner with Xbox. He continued, “Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner. We found in Xbox a partner with whom we share a common vision for the future, and we have decided to team up with them once again.”
He reassures that development of PHYSINT is ongoing and will continue moving forward. Furthermore, KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS previously partnered with Xbox Game Studios on OD: Knock, an upcoming horror game. As such, this tie-up makes a lot of sense for both partners, as this collaboration aims to extend beyond video games to film and television.
Not to be left out, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma put out a statement of her own, welcoming this newfound partnership. On this new collab, Sharma says, “We’re honored that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox to work with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on PHYSINT. His ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at Xbox.“
Despite this setback, the genre-defining action-espionage title is back on track, and development will continue as planned. We can expect an update later this year. Perhaps we could even get news for Death Stranding 3 or at least a brief look at the concept that Hideo Kojima has envisioned.
