Hideo Kojima says Godzilla Minus Zero brought "tears to his eyes" in a glowing review.

Minus Zero, the follow-up to 2023's monstrous hit Minus One, is set a few years after Godzilla's initial defeat on Sagami Bay. But, of course, the big boy is back and set to face down a terrifying new threat – King Ghidorah.

It's a killer premise, and one that has self-proclaimed Godzilla fanboy Hideo Kojima ecstatic after watching the Takashi Yamazaki-directed movie at the Japanese premiere.

"As a huge Godzilla fan and a fan of Minami Hamabe, this is a film I’ve been eagerly waiting three years to see. And I got to see it in IMAX!!!" Kojima began on Twitter, barely containing his excitement.

Kojima continued, "There were moments that played out just as I imagined, moments that surprised me in the best possible way, moments beyond anything I could have imagined, and moments clearly made for hardcore fans (scenes that brought tears to my eyes as a longtime fan, and scenes I’d always dreamed of seeing brought to life)….. I can’t say anything more without giving away spoilers. By the final climax, I was so excited that I practically felt dorsal fins sprouting from my back and an atomic heat ray blasting out of my mouth!"

While fans in the west still have to wait a few more weeks, it seems the Godzilla vs. Ghidorah showdown doesn't disappoint.

Minus Zero is certainly going to bare its teeth throughout, with it also being given the first R-rating in Godzilla franchise history.

"There were certain scenes that, for me as a director, were so essential to the film. Censoring it or cutting it was just not an option for me," director Takashi Yamazaki told Variety.

Godzilla Minus Zero will hit cinemas on November 6.

For more, check out our own Godzilla: Minus Zero review, or our movie release dates guide.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2 is almost upon us, and the first episode of the new season is set to debut live on Twitch.

CD Projekt Red announced that the premiere will stream live on its official Twitch channel on October 20 at midnight EST. You can check out the official post below in order to find your specific time zone. For episodes 2-10, however, you're going to need that Netflix subscription.

The studio also announced that selected streamers will be co-streaming the episode on their own separate channels, and that users will be able to win Twitch Chat Badges.

Per the official tagline, the second season "presents a new standalone 10-episode story from the world of Cyberpunk 2077... a raw chronicle of redemption and revenge. In a city that thrives in the spotlight of violence, one question remains: when the world is blinded by spectacle, what extremes do you have to go to make your story matter?"

Hideo Kojima is set to reprise his role as Hideyoshi Oshima, from Cyberpunk 2077. Other new characters include D (voiced by Koki Uchiyama and Nazeeh Tarsha), camera-wielding Roman Carrax (voiced by Momoka Terasawa and Valeria Rodriguez), and Weak Kingsley, a significantly older character who is voiced by the legendary Clancy Brown).

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2 is set to hit Netflix October 20, with all 10 episodes in tow. For more, check out our Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2 review, or, check out our list of all the new anime you need to add to your watchlist.

Casetify doesn't shy away from a collab, and neither does Hideo Kojima, so it's a wonder it's taken this long for the two to come together. Taking on the iPhone 18 Pro Max (with a few iPhone 18 Pro options mixed in), the new range plasters Death Stranding 2 all over your phone case. Didn't sell your soul for the latest Apple flagship? The series also transfers its designs over to everything from luggage to charging stands and earbud cases.

This is Casetify, though, so none of these gadgets go particularly easy on the wallet. Prices start at $32 for those earbud pouches (a cheaper Ludens Duck keychain would have run you $24 before it ran out of stock), and run all the way up to a whopping $799 for a carry-on suitcase. If you're going all in on the new collection, there's also a series of accessory sets covering you for each product selection in one go (with a few bundled savings up for grabs).

Easily the most impressive piece is this BB Pod AirPods case. The whole thing snaps around your charging case in a particularly satisfying glow of orange, with all the tiny details you'd expect from the Death Stranding art department. This is a headline of the collection, but it's already sold out at its $56 standalone price (it's still available as part of the $170 Dollman Plush Set).

The designs, produced with both Kojima and art director Yoji Shinkawa, span 11 collections:

• Fragile Express
• DHV Magellan
• Ghost Mech
• Ludens Emblem
• Yoji Shinkawa Art Editions
• Drawbridge
• Bridges
• Neon Signs
• Cargo ID
• Damage Sensor
• Design Patch

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max cases cover the majority of the designs here, with both the brand's Impact and Ultra Impact cases covered by the collection. Prices vary from $64 through to $84 on the iPhone 18 Pro Max front.

At the cheapest end of the spectrum, though, is the KJP Earbuds Pouch. This little AirPods holder is designed to hang onto a belt or bag loop, adding a little extra flair to that charging case. Is it an essential? Hell no, but Death Stranding fans can still gussy it up with some Ludens iconography.

The final accessory before we hit $100 is the 2-in-1 charging stand, available in both Ludens Emblem and Damage Sensor Tape designs. $92 is certainly a lot to spend on a single charging stand when multi-accessory MagSafe chargers are available for far less elsewhere. Still, they don't come with Kojima's design stamped all over them.

Casetify's collection of crossbody bags takes us past the $100 price barrier, jumping up to $169 for one of these limited-edition designs. The Design Patch model is a go-to here, in my humble opinion, with the Bounce model offering up space for your everyday essentials in a hard-shell form factor.

Right at the top of the price bracket, we have the Bounce Suitcase, available with a particularly striking Cargo ID design. This is a big spend, and those looking to drop $800 on new luggage might be better off heading to a more specialist manufacturer with that kind of budget. If you're here for Kojima and find yourself with some megabucks to spend, though, this is the jewel of the collection.

Want something more geared towards playing your games? Check out the best gaming phones and best gaming earbuds on the market right now.

The king of cameos returns: Hideo Kojima will be reprising his Cyberpunk role in Edgerunners season 2.

Kojima will return as Hideyoshi Oshima, the braindance director who cropped up Konpeki Plaza during one of Cyberpunk 2077's earliest, most memorable missions as V attempted to steal a biochip right from under Arasaka's noses.

"You may remember seeing him in Konpeki Plaza during The Heist in 2077. Now, the renowned braindance director is making another appearance in Night City," reads the announcement from the official Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Twitter account.

After the news went public, CD Projekt Red co-CEO Michal Nowakowski tweeted, "Always a pleasure to work with Hideo Kojima."

Perhaps we should have seen this coming. After all, Kojima recently teased he would be making multiple cameos across various mediums.

"Directors and others have asked me to [appear]. One is a big live-action movie and [the other] is a major anime title," Kojima said during an appearance on radio show KOJI10.

Kojima added, perhaps with a knowing nod towards playing 'Oshima' in the Cyberpunk series, "I don't like playing myself. That happens a lot. I'd rather play a detective or something."

If Kojima can pull himself away from his newfound acting career, he will be working on two upcoming titles: new horror game O.D. and Physint, a Metal Gear spiritual successor that has emerged under the Xbox umbrella after being suddenly dropped from PlayStation in September.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2 is streaming from October 20 on Netflix.

For the verdict on the new Cyberpunk anime, we have the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2 review ready and waiting for you. Then dive into our picks for the best anime on Netflix.

A new Xbox survey is asking players how they would feel about future titles being console-exclusive to Xbox, with Fallout, Hideo Kojima's Physint, and Minecraft name-dropped.

Since its massive spending spree on the likes of Activision Blizzard and Bethesda, Xbox has been a bit all over the place when it comes to exclusives. Aside from honoring exclusive deals with the likes of Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, Microsoft went all-in on being a third-party publisher for a bit there, bringing almost every one of its games to PS5. Then, with the appointment of new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, the strategy changed again: Gears of War: E-Day was confirmed to be on Xbox and PC only, despite reports that its PS5 port was apparently close to completion.

And now – barring Fable, which was previously confirmed for a PS5 launch – it looks like Microsoft may be priming players for more exclusivity. As highlighted by Windows Central, some Xbox Insider members have received surveys asking about game exclusivity and where they would play the title – or if they would play it at all if it's not on PS5 or Switch 2.

These reportedly included questions about Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and the upcoming Hideo Kojima game, Physint, which Xbox Game Studios recently became the publisher of, following Sony's decision to cancel the project. Kojima himself has said he doesn't know if Physint will release on PlayStation.

However, it's the final question that is likely to raise the most eyebrows. The question asks players to imagine every Xbox game – barring Call of Duty, which Microsoft is legally required to release on other platforms until at least 2033 – was an exclusive. However, it adds "For Minecraft only, existing titles would no longer be available for purchase on PlayStation or Nintendo consoles, and would not receive any new content updates."

I don't think people would be happy if Fallout 5 or Elder Scrolls 6 were exclusive to Xbox for sure, but the idea of removing Minecraft from PlayStation and Nintendo consoles, as well as no longer giving updates to those versions, is so brazenly a bad decision that even being floated is concerning.

Minecraft on Nintendo Switch has sold over 4 million physical copies in Japan alone, and the worldwide number is likely to be much higher, while the PS4 version of the game had over 17 million players as of 2019 – and given that a native PS5 version didn't release until 2024, again, that number is likely to have far surpassed it. Obviously, it's just a hypothetical for now, but I can only imagine that taking Minecraft away from millions would have a backlash that makes complaints about Sony's killing physical games look like nothing much.

As Minecraft sells over 425 million copies and attracts 300,000 new players a day, the evergreen sandbox game is getting its first dimension in 14 years

P.T., the "playable teaser" meant to introduce the world to Hideo Kojima's Silent Hills, has been effectively inaccessible since Konami delisted it in 2015. Modder LoreanXavier has created a native PC port of the game that aims to make it playable for modern gamers, and even Hideo Kojima is taking notice.

An article from GameRant covered this PC port of PT a few days ago, which was soon retweeted by Kojima himself – on both his English and Japanese Twitter accounts, even. Kojima constantly retweets fanart and other community celebrations of his games, even those still owned by Konami, but it is unusual to see him acknowledge this kind of port on social media.

"The GOAT himself acknowledged my port," LoreanXavier says on Twitter (via IGN). "I am speechless." He adds that seeing Kojima "notice something I’ve poured so much time and passion into genuinely means the world to me."

While there have been plenty of attempts to port or remake P.T. over the years, this one seems to be the real deal. "This is incredible," as noted dataminer Lance McDonald explains. "Unlike the previous decade of fan 'recreations' of P.T. for PC which always seemed to miss important but minor details, this is (as far as I can tell?) a 1:1 port of the entire codebase. It creates all of the undocumented behavior I know of perfectly."

In essence, it's a lot like the PC recompilations we've seen for older games over the past few years, rebuilding the original console code in a way that actually functions on PC. And, like most of those projects, you need to provide your own copy of the game to work with the port, as none of the original game assets are included here. That's a key distinction that seems to have helped keep these projects from being assailed by publishers' lawyers.

"I made this on my own, in my spare time, because P.T. deserved to keep existing somewhere other than on consoles that still have it installed," LoreanXavier says on the project's GitHub page. "It plays the whole teaser from the first wake-up to the street, with the voice part included."

Given the rampant vibe coding that's been going around the fan dev community, you might want to know whether AI was used here. "I use AI for debugging when I get stuck," LoreanXavier says. "This project is built on years of experience with P.T. and Fox Engine; I was making shadPS4/ModDB workarounds for the game long before this port. That knowledge makes reverse engineering easier. I’m not blindly vibe-coding a P.T. port."

With multiple successful modern Silent Hill games under its belt, Konami is now keen to turn Silent Hill into an annual franchise. The series is more active than it's been in years, but P.T. remains stubbornly tied to a dwindling number of PS4s, with no way for new players to get in on the action. It's a notable piece of gaming history, and it's good to see that fans, at least, are willing to try and protect its legacy.

These are the best Silent Hill games of all time.

PATCH NOTES v10.06.2026 – Both Microsoft and Sony have fallen from grace in the eyes of console gamers, but one smart decision has turned PlayStation's fumble into Xbox's biggest gain.

What's going on in gaming this week?

• Hideo Kojima took to his radio show to discuss OD and Physint, both to be published under Xbox Game Studios
• He is drawing out the mysterious, unknown quality of each, saying that he "doesn't want to reveal too much" though the games are progressing as planned

Why is this happening now?

• Sony allegedly canceled plans to publish Physint as a PS5-exclusive, with Xbox picking it up instead
• Sony is moving toward a digital-only future for PlayStation, while Xbox has announced no such plans

Meta Shift

• Xbox doesn't have to own Kojima Productions to benefit from its star power

The console wars are supposed to be long behind us, but Kojima having two partnerships with Xbox seems to have reignited it in Xbox's favor.

Xbox had already partnered with Kojima to publish his upcoming horror game OD (Overdose), so adding the detective thriller to its litany of upcoming Xbox Series X games doubles down on the partnership. It turns Sony's loss into a great boon for Xbox; Sony is cast off an exclusivity deal with one of the industry's most prominent visionaries, leaving it primed for Xbox to take over and come out looking somewhat virtuous in the eyes of Kojima fans.

Xbox has become known for its high-value mergers and acquisitions, with its $75 billion purchase of Call of Duty punisher Activision Blizzard being its biggest to date. But Xbox doesn't need to own Kojima Productions to benefit from its star power. We are used to Hideo Kojima being a mysterious and tight-lipped figure, so each and every non-comment from the creator is another reason for his loyal fans to follow him from PS5 to Xbox. As Xbox steers itself into a murky new future, having an unpredictable companion like Hideo Kojima along for the ride feels rather poetic. At the very least, it will keep us entertained while the corporate cogs keep turning in the background.

Platform Stability

Aligning itself further with gaming's most interesting creator means Xbox has bought back some of the goodwill it lost through the confusion generated by CEO Asha Sharma's ongoing "Xbox Reset". As part of a larger Microsoft-wide restructure, it has so far resulted in the divestment or disbanding of in-house developers like Ninja Theory and Undead Labs, while others such as Bethesda and Obsidian have merged.

Meanwhile, Sony earned the ire of many PS5 owners who went as far as staging a PSN blackout to protest the publisher's decision to cease physical disc production as of 2028. When Kojima alleged that Death Stranding publisher Sony had canceled its Physint deal with Kojima Productions, fans were outraged – and Xbox swooped in to save the day (and the game) after Kojima pitched them instead.

Patch Notes summary

Kojima has become a master at using a lot of words to say very little, but Xbox partnering up to publish two upcoming Hideo Kojima games says it all: The publisher is abandoning its heavy M&A push in favor of strategic partnerships.

This latest one with Kojima has the twofold advantage of pitting it favorably against Sony, hitting the PlayStation publisher at its most vulnerable in terms of player approval, while proving an effective distraction technique to help weather the storm caused by ongoing restructures and the devastating impact they have had on key studios.

Related stories

Hideo Kojima has confirmed he has more cameo appearances on the way in major movies and anime series.

"I already shot a few other things," Kojima said on the return of radio show KOJI10 while discussing his cameos in Japanese crime drama Vivant (sans beard) as Commissioner Watanuki and in the Japanese dub of Zootopia 2 as Officer Molebrandt.

"Directors and others have asked me to [appear]. One is a big live-action movie and [the other] is a major anime title."

On top of that, Kojima, who is already a busy bee with upcoming titles Physint and O.D., says he has dialogue in another project, as well as a cameo appearance in an unnamed game.

"I don't like playing myself. That happens a lot," Kojima admitted of his acting side hustle. "I'd rather play a detective or something."

Away from his work in front of the camera, Kojima continues to develop multiple titles at Kojima Productions.

One of those, Physint, has undergone some major changes in recent weeks after the title was picked up by Xbox amid its cancellation over at PlayStation. The game, set to be an espionage title in the mold of Metal Gear Solid and starring Bill Skarsgård, reportedly had deadline and budget issues. Kojima Productions later released a statement describing the report as "unsubstantiated speculation."

His other title, O.D., is a little more under wraps. "This time, I don't want to reveal much," Kojima said later on in the KOJI10 show.

For more, check out our guides on upcoming Xbox Series X games and new PS5 games.

Hideo Kojima says that even though we haven't really heard much about his upcoming horror game, OD, that doesn't mean that he isn't working on it.

Speaking on a new episode of his radio show Koji10, Kojima notes that the first in the duo of upcoming Hideo Kojima games, OD, is "still a mystery." However, he says that despite the lack of updates since it was first announced back in 2023, "this doesn't mean we haven't made the game. I want to keep quiet and release it."

Kojima acknowledges that a lack of promotion is "unusual for me," adding, "I normally put out teaser after teaser. This time I don't want to reveal much."

Later in the show, Kojima reiterates that the Screen Actors Guild strikes lasted about a year and thus had an effect on the development of the game, but that "we've been shooting since June and will continue through the end of the year," with automated dialogue replacement (dubbing) work carrying over into 2027.

Kojima says "the shoot is going well" and that "we're developing the game while we shoot." However, from the sounds of things, development didn't pause entirely for the SAG strike, as Kojima explains, "we'd been using stand-ins until now. For the temporary version." He adds that the stand in performances are "a lot of work" to replace.

Kojima also speaks about Udo Kier who was set to star in the game, who passed away at the age of 81 last year, saying he "had really looked forward to the project." He doesn't mention whether the work he did do for the game will be retained, but notes that he participated in a "three-day scan" with co-star Hunter Schafer.

Hideo Kojima says Xbox had "never seen" anything like Physint, which is impressive considering it was the only publisher that didn't think his OD pitch was "crazy."

Akio Otsuka, the Japanese voice for pretty much every Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series, has said Konami should release a new game in the series, even if Hideo Kojima isn't involved.

While David Hayter is synonymous with Snake for many, Otsuka perhaps has the most prolific run as the character in the series history. Not only did he – like Hayter – play Solid and Naked Snake, but he also provided the voice for Metal Gear Solid 2's Solidus Snake (played by John Cygan) and Metal Gear Solid 5's Venom Snake (played by Kiefer Sutherland). In fact, the only time Otsuka didn't play Snake in the series was Big Boss' appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4, where he was fittingly played by Chikao Otsuka – the actor's father.

Otsuka previously said that he was not interested in returning to the series if Kojima wasn't somehow involved, but appears to have changed his mind. Speaking to Bunshun (translated via TheGamer), Otsuka admitted he made that comment due to a "sense of pride" for having worked with Kojima, but he thinks Konami should make a new Metal Gear game

"There are Metal Gear fans all over the world, and they have been waiting patiently for it. So, for their sake, let’s make one more Metal Gear," Otsuka says, noting that since Kojima is "making his own games with Death Stranding, I think, 'Why not? It’s okay to do it.' That’s how I feel."

Otsuka would continue to collaborate with Kojima, providing the Japanese-dubbed voice for Die-Hardman, but when asked if he'd spoken to the director about collaborating again, Otsuka reportedly laughed, saying, "I'll leave that to your imagination." Now that Kojima is working on Physint, his own Metal Gear spiritual successor, perhaps it could be a full-circle moment for the duo, although I don't know that the 66-year-old's voice coming out of 36-year-old Bill Skarsgård's character's mouth would be the most fitting.

Hideo Kojima's Physint isn't costing Xbox $400 million after all, with new reports suggesting the Metal Gear successor's actual budget is "significantly less"

In a massive moment for the Metal Gear Solid 2 speedrunning community, a way to skip the game's first boss fight entirely has been uncovered.

Metal Gear Solid 2 is split into two parts: the Tanker and the Plant chapters, with Tanker serving as a short prologue featuring Snake. Famously, this is the only time you get to play as Solid Snake throughout the game, with Raiden being in charge for a majority of the game's runtime. Through this, Snake only gets one proper boss fight against Olga Gurlukovich, who, upon defeating, has Snake steal her USP pistol. And while you shouldn't be using it generally because non-lethal is the way to go, you need it for destroying the sensors for the bombs located on the ship.

Except that's no longer the case, as Metal Gear Solid 2 runner apel has released a video showing the discovery on YouTube (via Time Extension). In the video, apel drags an unconscious guard across to the lasers, which will then activate upon the guard waking up. Once the bombs go off, the game "triggers a flag that decides if the explosives can be triggered again or not. After the game over, if you press Continue, the game resets the value of that flag to the value it previously stored, so the explosives work again."

However, by rolling towards a checkpoint as the guard triggers the bombs, the "game saves the value of the flag after the explosions happen," which means Snake can casually stroll through, avoiding the encounter with Olga completely.

The bombs are the only section in the Tanker where you also need a lethal weapon, so you're free to move on and reach Raiden. This marks a huge shift for Metal Gear Solid 2 speedruns, as it's the first skip found that allows you to avoid a boss fight entirely. So expect some new world records in the near future.

Someone finally gave Metal Gear Solid 2 the perfect mod, letting us experience the entire tanker opening in lore-accurate VR

Xbox apparently isn't paying close to $400 million for Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear spiritual successor Physint after all, despite recent rumors to the contrary.

In news I don't think anyone – including Kojima himself – saw coming, Xbox is now publishing Physint instead of PlayStation after Sony decided it wanted to cancel the game entirely. The game's future is now apparently safe, despite ongoing restructuring at Xbox, but the question of why Sony wanted to drop it at all remains.

One report from Bloomberg claimed that, amongst other things, Physint was set to go "well over budget," though Kojima Productions released a statement noting that "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." Even so, whispers about Physint's budget have continued, with The Game Business editor-in-chief Christopher Dring reporting last week that a budget around $400 million is the figure being suggested the most at bars around Tokyo.

That's a lot of money, but it sounds like the rumor mill may have exaggerated things slightly. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, despite being "hesitant to get into exact numbers without seeing documentation or corroborating them with multiple firsthand sources," suggests in a ResetEra post that Xbox isn't paying that much. "Someone at Xbox with firsthand knowledge of the deal told me that they signed Physint for significantly less than this," he writes.

Windows Central's Jez Corden has shared a similar claim, alleging that sources with direct knowledge of the contracts in question told him that the number is significantly smaller than $400 million. Dring himself has also stated on Twitter since the publication of his original report that "I've since been told Xbox is paying 'quite a bit less' than that."

What the game's actual budget is, then, isn't clear. It's rare to see a cheaply made AAA game these days, and you can imagine that's especially true for a title with lots of Hollywood talent attached to it. In Physint's case, John Wick 4 star Bill Skarsgård has been cast as the protagonist, and Charlee Fraser, Don Lee, and Minami Hamabe are part of the project, too. Needless to say, I doubt it's going to be particularly kind to Xbox's wallet, even if it's not as massive an ask as $400 million.

Hideo Kojima says Xbox had "never seen" anything like Physint, which is impressive considering it was the only publisher that didn't think his OD pitch was "crazy."

Hideo Kojima says that Xbox was very enthusiastic about his pitch for Physint, calling it something the publisher had never seen before.

The new action espionage game from Kojima Productions has had a busy week, with the news of PlayStation unexpectedly dropping the project before it was picked up by Xbox. This was soon followed by the news that John Wick 4 and Nosferatu actor Bill Skarsgård will be taking on the role of the game's lead. There were also reports that Sony canceled the game because it was missing deadlines and set to go "well over budget", which Kojima Productions took to Twitter to call "unsubstantiated speculation."

Speaking to IGN, Kojima explains how Physint's move to Xbox came to be. Kojima explains that when looking for a publisher, "it's not just the money we needed. We also needed technical support, marketing support, holding playtests and things like that." He recalls, "I approached Xbox and they were great. They could support us technically. And also we've been working on OD with them, so we already had a connection."

While the core of Physint – a Kojima led action espionage game in the vein of Metal Gear Solid – was a pretty easy pitch, there's still a lot we don't know about the game itself, with Kojima describing it as a "project that will redefine 'action-espionage', unbound by any existing genres in digital entertainment." Kojima explains, "I made a proper pitch of Physint to them. And then their first reaction was like, 'This pitch was fantastic. Never seen a pitch like this!' And that's how it started with Xbox."

Microsoft is clearly open to his ideas, as Kojima previously said his pitch for OD sounded "crazy" to every publisher except Xbox. On top of that, new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma called OD "deeply moving," with her being in the CEO role during the time Kojima was pitching Physint to new publishers.

Hideo Kojima doesn't know if Physint will release on PlayStation after Xbox picked up publishing duties, and hasn't "decided" if he'll use the Sony-owned Decima engine, either.

Hideo Kojima says that Physint hasn't decided on its game engine yet, and he doesn't know if it'll still release on PlayStation following its move to Xbox.

Xbox Game Studios is now working with Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions on its Metal Gear spiritual successor, Physint, following Sony's decision to cancel the project. Reports had stated that the cancellation happened due to budget and timeline concerns, but Kojima Productions has since refuted these claims. However, both of Kojima Productions' released titles – Death Stranding and its sequel – have been PlayStation titles, and used the Sony-owned Decima engine which was created by Horizon developer Guerilla Games.

Speaking to IGN in a new interview, Kojima is asked if the move from PlayStation to Xbox has forced the studio to swap development of Physint to a new engine (with the implication that it was once also likely to use Decima with it previously being a PlayStation Studios game). However, Kojima simply does not confirm if the game had even been in the works with that engine, saying, "I haven't really decided yet. I'm still experimenting."

Xbox has been releasing its titles on PS5 for a few years now, however, the appointment of Asha Sharma as CEO this year marked a change, as she was keen for a return to Xbox exclusives, with Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution set to remain exclusives for the platform. Others like Fable and Forza Horizon 6 still have PS5 releases planned.

Kojima is asked whether Physint would still release on PlayStation under Xbox publishing, but he wasn't able to speak definitively on the topic. "I don't know the answer to that – that would be a question for Xbox." Kojima says, adding, "In previous updates from Xbox, I thought that they have this kind of stance where they want to deliver to as many gamers as possible, no matter what the platform is."

It wouldn't be surprising if Xbox wanted to keep Physint to itself, given that it taking over publishing duties on the game in the wake of Sony's cancellation is one of the easiest wins the rival has had in recent years. Plus, even Kojima thinks "this is the biggest selling title I could possibly create."

OD is "progressing smoothly," Hideo Kojima says, teasing it as a "completely new kind of game that tests the thresholds of fear."

Kojima Productions has released a statement responding to reports that Sony dropped its upcoming action game Physint due to missed deadlines and budget concerns.

Following the news that the upcoming Hideo Kojima game Physint has been picked up by Xbox as its publisher after Sony decided it was canceling the title, reports emerged to attempt to shed some light on Sony abandoning what should be an easy win. Bloomberg reported that Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor was missing deadlines and set to go "well over budget," on top of that, there was reportedly friction over Kojima Productions wanting to release Physint on PC, like it had with the Death Stranding games.

Following the publication of multiple interviews with Hideo Kojima – in which the director recalled how he found out about the cancelation of the studio's title by PlayStation – the Kojima Productions Twitter account released a statement addressing these rumors. "Normally, we would not comment on unsubstantiated speculation on the internet," the post reads, adding that the reports "have reached beyond the studio and have touched our fans, our creative partners, and colleagues we have worked alongside with for three decades."

Kojima Productions says, "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." It adds that, "While we recognise that the article may have caused alarm, we want to reassure you all, for the record: that the studio is in a healthy, profitable state, development for Physint continues to move forward with Xbox, and our relationship with PlayStation remains strong."

Jason Schreier, who wrote the original Bloomberg report, responds to the statement on Bluesky, saying "it doesn't dispute any of our reporting so I don't have much to add there." He adds that – contrary to Kojima's comment that it was a surprise, that "the Physint cancellation came after several months of negotiations between KoPro and Sony. Wasn't exactly out of nowhere."

Schreier also says that his report was "based on conversations I had with multiple people across Sony, Xbox, and Kojima Productions."

OD is "progressing smoothly," Hideo Kojima says, teasing it as a "completely new kind of game that tests the thresholds of fear."

Someone has made a VR mod for Metal Gear Solid 2, which is so fitting for the plot of the game that I'm shocked no one has done it before.

YouTube creator Shiffo released a video this week showcasing their mod for Metal Gear Solid 2's Master Collection version. It allows you to play the game in Virtual Reality, either in third-person as the game typically is, or entirely through a first-person perspective. At the moment, the game's opening – the tanker mission featuring Solid Snake – is the only part available to play with the mod, which is set to be released in beta "soon."

In a YouTube video, the creator shows their run through the entire mission, demonstrating that the entire thing works in VR right now. The Raiden-led plant mission that makes up the majority of Metal Gear Solid 2 isn't there just yet, but if anything, that's just even more fitting.

Mild spoilers for Metal Gear Solid 2 ahead

Before infiltrating the Big Shell as part of the plant chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden underwent hundreds of VR missions in preparation for his real mission, including the Shadow Moses Incident from Metal Gear Solid 1 and the tanker chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2. He explains this to Iroquois Pliskin, a man who looks very much like Solid Snake, but can't be, because he died on that tanker two years ago.

The implication is that your experience playing through Metal Gear Solid and its VR missions is supposed to mirror Raiden's experience. Some do speculate that the tanker mission found in MGS2 is actually Raiden's experience. However, Snake calls out his VR mission, saying, "I doubt it accurately simulates the events of that actual mission."

Snake is said to have blown up the tanker of his own accord, which is not what happened in the mission, and we see what actually happens in the opening of the game. Still, having your chance to play through the tanker mission in VR is as close to being Raiden as you can get. I don't know that it was intentional from the mod developer, but they've made perhaps the most fitting VR mod of all time.

Metal Gear Solid 5 modders are bringing the open-world stealth game more in line with the PS1 classic in a crucial way

The latest Physint poster may have given us our first bit of plot details about Hideo Kojima's upcoming Metal Gear spiritual successor.

While Bill Skarsgard's casting was the main draw of Kojima's Physint update at the latest Xbox Tokyo Game Show, there's more than initially meets the eye. We also got some artwork consisting of a photo Kojima took of the duo, with a tagline that reads: "The next Cold War begins."

Based on that tagline, we can assume that Physint is about espionage in a time when nuclear war could break out at a moment's notice, while the world powers are engaged in a giant game of chicken. To me, that sure is a Metal Gear Solid game right there. Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, Peace Walker, and The Phantom Pain all took place during the Cold War, with it being a major plot point in the first two.

Given that Snake Eater is considered one of the best Metal Gear games, it's not a surprise that Kojima would return to a formula that works. However, "the next Cold War" seems to imply that the game will be set closer to modern day than the actual conflict.

Another interesting detail about the marketing for Physint is Kojima's unofficial theme song for it – "Here Comes the Feeling" by Asia – which he has attached to Instagram posts about the game and is also on the original poster.

Having had the song on rotation since last week's PlayStation debacle, I've found the lyrics have definitely struck me. Many see Death Stranding's themes as a metaphor for Kojima coming to terms with the loss of Metal Gear; however, the Asia song focuses on reunion. "All through the winter, I thought I'd never see you again" is how it kicks off, while the chorus consists of "Here comes the feeling. Here comes the same old feeling," which certainly feels like a 'we are so back' declaration from Kojima.

OD is "progressing smoothly," Hideo Kojima says, teasing it as a "completely new kind of game that tests the thresholds of fear"

Hideo Kojima has revealed that John Wick 4 and Nosferatu actor Bill Skarsgård will be the lead in his upcoming Metal Gear spiritual successor Physint.

Appearing at the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2026 Broadcast, Hideo Kojima gives development updates on both of his upcoming titles for Xbox Game Studios. OD is "steadily taking shape" as performance capture continued this year following the SAG-AFTRA strike. As for Physint – which only last week it was announced Xbox acquired after Sony decided it wanted to cancel the game – Kojima says "the project continues to make steady progress."

Kojima calls Physint "the culmination of more than 40 years of my career: a project that will redefine 'action espionage,' unbound by any existing genres in digital entertainment." Kojima claims he realized he should make a game like Metal Gear Solid while he was sick during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While we already knew Charlee Fraser, Don Lee (also known as Ma Dong-seok) and Minami Hamabe had been cast in the game, Kojima reveals that the game's lead character will be portrayed by Skarsgård. Kojima explains, "we are both long-time fans of each others' work, and we've decided to embark on this new adventure together."

Kojima also acknowledges the game's new home, saying, "I would also like to thank our partners at Xbox for believing in our vision and walking this path toward the future alongside us." He adds, "We are incredibly excited about the road ahead and look forward to sharing much more with you in the future."

Given Kojima said last year Physint is "another five or six years" away, and things likely slowed down a bit while the game was without a publisher, we've probably still got a while to go before we get our hands on it, or even see gameplay for that matter.

Hideo Kojima says his pitch for OD sounded "crazy" to every publisher except Xbox.

Hideo Kojima says development on his mysterious horror game OD is "progressing smoothly," and he can't wait to tell us more about it.

During an Xbox broadcast at this year's Tokyo Game Show, Kojima provides some quick updates on OD and Physint, which are now both being published by Xbox Game Studios.

On OD, he says: "Performance capture and ADR recording, which had been paused during the SAG strike, resumed this year, and production is proceeding on schedule. Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and the team have delivered intense and outstanding performances, which I can't wait for you all to see.

"OD is a completely new kind of game that tests the thresholds of fear," he continues. "Through constant experimentation and iteration, the project is steadily taking shape. We look forward to sharing more information later down the line."

There's still plenty we don't know about OD – its release window, for a start, is still a complete mystery. Kojima previously said that he'd like to "scan a ghost" into the game, which could take time. Then again, he also suggests that there could have been a ghost accidentally recorded into it already, so he might have ticked that box without even knowing it for sure. Don't worry, though – "that's why we went to the shrine together with Microsoft to make sure that we have a safe build of the game," he said at the time. That's reassuring… I think.

At Tokyo Game Show, Kojima also revealed that John Wick 4 and Nosferatu actor Bill Skarsgård will be Physint's lead actor, with him and the star both being "long-time fans of each others' work."

Physint goes from PlayStation to Xbox as Sony "unexpectedly" drops Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor.

A new Metal Gear Solid 5 mod has been released which aims to bring back the feeling of the series' classic games by allowing you to go in with nothing.

Metal Gear Solid changed pretty drastically with its final entries. Metal Gear Solid 4 sowed the seeds with the Drebin shop, but Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker and 5 took the series in a different direction.

The original MSX2 games and Solid trilogy had you infiltrating enemy bases with only the clothes on your back (or very little supplies) and every important item and extra weapon had to be found during your mission. Peace Walker and The Phantom Pain, on the other hand, feature the Mother Base, which allows you to develop your own weapons, meaning that every single time you went into a mission, your bag was packed to the brim.

Well, clearly someone longs for the good old days of stealth, as modder mohtalgear has released Metal Gear Solid 5's "definitive subsistence" mod. The big focus of this mod is On-Site Procurement (OSP) , a concept introduced in Metal Gear Solid 1, where Snake must secure his equipment at Shadow Moses. However, to launch a mission in Metal Gear Solid 5, you need to have some weapon equipped, so this mod removes that hurdle while reworking the game itself to make the experience work.

Crucially, every base weapon in the game will now be available to find on-site, whether that be from enemies or found on the map. This includes re-introducing concepts from earlier games, like having enemies drop their equipment or looting them when they are down and out. This extends to MGS 5's suite of extras too, as it introduces radios that allow you to call in support from your buddies like D. Dog, D. Horse, or Quiet.

On top of that, the mod introduces new bionic arms and weapons that were previously unavailable for main missions, and allows you to play as multiplayer-exclusive characters like Ocelot and Quiet in the open world. And, of course, you are able to still dispatch with your developed weapons with no issue.

Hideo Kojima intentionally designed Metal Gear Solid's box art to look confusing and grab attention, but stores ruined his plan by "trying to be helpful."

Following Sony dropping Hideo Kojima's next project, analysts report that the Death Stranding series just about broke even in sales.

Despite making a massive deal out of its exclusivity when it was announced – it being the finale of a State of Play presentation – Sony reportedly wanted to cancel Kojima Productions' Metal Gear spiritual successor, Physint. Pretty soon after, Xbox announced it's now publishing both of the upcoming Hideo Kojima games, with OD still on the way, leaving many perplexed as to why Sony would drop one of its most anticipated titles amid a whirlwind few months of bad press for the PlayStation brand.

Some speculated that the Death Stranding games had underperformed, leading to Sony's decision; however, from the sounds of things, the series didn't flop, but it didn't do much more than its budget. Anilea Analytics reports that the first Death Stranding did pretty well, selling 5 million copies by the end in the same time it took Death Stranding 2 to sell around 2.5 million copies.

Death Stranding has reportedly made about $243 million, with a rumored budget of around $100 million, while Death Stranding 2 has made about $129 million on a rumored budget of somewhere between $150-200 million. Anilea reports the franchise has definitely broken even with its $413 million made across both games, "but not by much," with "an estimated return on investment of 18% to 38%."

The development of Metal Gear Solid 5 reportedly going over budget is part of what caused the rift between Konami and Hideo Kojima, so the idea of Physint development being expensive isn't too surprising to hear. And with Sony releasing a string of high-profile misses as of late, with the likes of Marathon, Saros, and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls having pretty low-profile launches, and of course Sony sinking a ton of money into failed live service projects that end up canceled mid-dev (or after release in Concord's case), the publisher being more stingy is not entirely surprising.

However, Sony built its way back from the PS3's failures by being known for its high-quality releases. The Last of Us, the Horizon series, and so on fed into the prestige-publisher look Sony maintained until it decided to chase a live-service hit and stopped releasing games as often. And even then the Wolverine reviews seem to indicate the PlayStation first-party formula may be losing its shine a bit.

I can't think of something with more prestige than Hideo Kojima doing a new Metal Gear-like game, which not only would probably sell better than Death Stranding did on that basis alone, but even if it only broke even, it's the type of game that gets people in who will eventually pick up the next game. But hey, PlayStation's loss is Xbox's gain, unless it also decides to cancel the title.

Sony has topped a generational run of self-owns: abandoning Hideo Kojima's next Metal Gear right as Marvel's Wolverine falls flat

Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida has seemingly reacted to the news that Sony has dropped Hideo Kojima's highly anticipated stealth game, Physint, allowing Xbox to swoop in, and he's just as surprised as we are.

Overnight, PlayStation announced that "we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on its project PHYSINT." However, Kojima's own statement highlights this move as being a lot more one-sided than you might expect: "In mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the PHYSINT project," he reveals, going on to say that "we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner," leading Kojima Productions right back to Xbox, which it's also teaming up with on horror title OD.

The concept that any company would want to cancel a Kojima game is shocking, and the situation of PlayStation essentially handing it over to its main competition only makes it weirder, even though it's unclear if Sony could have known that's where the game would end up. Yoshida, former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, has responded to the news on Twitter, expressing how "surprised" he is (translated by GamesRadar+).

Although his original post isn't shared in response to anything in particular, it's obvious that this is what he's referring to – he doubles down on the sentiment in a separate reply to someone asking him about it directly.

While Yoshida might not have said much, the fact that the news has prompted him to respond like this at all speaks volumes. Sony is in desperate need of a win after its announcement that it's stopping production of physical discs for new PlayStation games in 2028 – the backlash it's prompted from folks opposed to an all-digital future has been immense, with the company's comment sections everywhere filled with cries of "no disc no buy" more than two months on.

Needless to say, deciding it doesn't want to bring Kojima's Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor to life isn't it – in fact, it looks like the opposite. Even with the company's reassurance that "we continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima's vision for the game," the general response across the internet is disbelief that Sony would give up on what, from the outside, looks like an easy win.

Despite the change in circumstances, Kojima is clear: "Please rest assured that development of PHYSINT, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward."

As Hideo Kojima turns 63, the Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator says "I would like to remain focused on creating games" despite the interest in movies.

Xbox has announced it's working with Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions on its Metal Gear spiritual successor, Physint, after PlayStation apparently wanted to cancel the project earlier this year.

Following Death Stranding 2's release, the list of upcoming Hideo Kojima games comprises OD, his new attempt at a horror game in partnership with Xbox following the Silent Hills debacle, and Physint, a return to the action espionage genre in the vein of Metal Gear, which Sony made a big song and dance about when announcing. The latter seems like a somewhat personal game to the director, as he says it was conceived while he was sick during the Covid-19 pandemic, realizing people wanted something like Metal Gear from him.

Earlier today, PlayStation's Twitter account posted a statement saying, "After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Kojima Productions on its project Physint". Then, within two minutes, Xbox posted on the Xbox Wire Blog that it would be publishing Physint.

Despite Sony's messaging that it simply stepped away, Kojima himself explained "In mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the Physint project."

He adds, "Physint is an important project both to me personally and to Kojima Productions. Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner."

Kojima explains, "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."

Kojima adds: "Please rest assured that development of Physint, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward."

The combination of this news and a litany of decisions from Sony over the last few years once again leaves me questioning PlayStation's plans for the future.

After the Concord debacle, the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us 2 multiplayer leading to it looking like the developer is going to skip the PS5 generation, Horizon Hunter's Gathering in general, and even going back to the closures of Bluepoint and Japan Studio, Sony seems allergic to what made PlayStation so beloved over the PS4 generation.

That being said, Xbox doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence either, following its repeated string of mass layoffs and high-profile game cancellations like Perfect Dark and Everwild. Hopefully OD does well, because right now I'm not exactly confident Physint is still coming out.

Hideo Kojima is "envious" of 21-year-old Backrooms director: "I made Metal Gear at 23 – but A24 didn’t get in touch with me until I was about 59"

Backrooms director Kane Parsons has been praised by Hideo Kojima at the film's Japanese premiere, with the acclaimed game director saying he's "envious" of the 21-year-old.

Backrooms has been one of the major hits that has made 2026 the biggest summer ever at the box office, which is even more impressive when you realize it was directed by a then-20-year-old, with Parsons becoming the youngest director to ever have a film debut at number one at the box office. Parsons had his beginning in online media with his The Backrooms short on YouTube amassing 93 million views after making animated Attack on Titan fan films, only to go on and direct the major film based on his short films years later.

Speaking at the Japanese premiere of Backrooms (attended by and reported on by Postmode), Kojima noted, "He’s 21, and I’m 63. But when people who grew up digital take that digital sensibility and burn it onto analogue film — I think what you’ll see is just how remarkable a result that can be."

Kojima – who was young when he directed his first game – was asked how he related to Parsons' rise; he responded, "I made Metal Gear at 23 – but A24 didn’t get in touch with me until I was about 59. So it’s completely different, isn’t it?"

Kojima adds, "I’m envious, honestly. There was no A24 when I was about 25. I wish they’d called." Kojima is currently working with A24 to adapt the Death Stranding universe to film, with Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One Michael Sarnoski set to direct the film, however it's still not confirmed when the film will be released.

As Hideo Kojima turns 63, the Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator says "I would like to remain focused on creating games" despite the interest in movies

Hideo Kojima has explained why the Japanese box art for the original Metal Gear Solid was written vertically, but says some retailers didn't get the memo.

Metal Gear Solid is a series synonymous with banger box art, with most entries in the series featuring some gorgeous artwork from series artist Yoji Shinkawa – in Japan and Europe that is, the US typically got 3D renders (with worse box art for the US being a tradition Konami is continuing to this very day). However, Europe won out with the original Metal Gear Solid, getting Shinkawa art, as both the US and Japan got a blank white cover with the game's title on it. However, there were differences: the US copy had the title in red, while the Japanese copy had the title on its side.

When asked why the title was intentionally misplaced on the Japanese cover, Kojima explains, in a post on Twitter, "When you placed [it] on a shelf, I intentionally designed the package to make customers wonder, 'Why is it vertical?!' and pick it up to see what it is, leading them to the game information from there!"

However, Kojima adds that this didn't exactly work out as planned, as "some stores, perhaps trying to be helpful, turned the package sideways and displayed it horizontally instead of the way I intended."

Doing something weird with the cover to pique players' curiosity isn't unique to Metal Gear Solid, mind you; the most obvious example is the space shooter Phalanx on the SNES. The European and Japanese covers featured a shot of a spaceship flying away from various explosions, while the US cover consists of an old fella playing the banjo with a tiny spaceship flying past in the background. And it's definitely the only reason I remember that game off the top of my head.

91.8% of Metal Gear Solid 4 players immediately got the achievement for ripping a statue's privates clean off.

Legendary video game designer Hideo Kojima has posted his 'review' of Ridley Scott's The Dog Stars and, just like Thumper in Bambi, it seems Koj believes that 'If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all,' because he doesn't actually say a critical word about the film in question.

Writing on X, Kojima's 76-word post expounds on his history with Peter Heller's original novel (he hasn't read it), what he pictured the movie would be like ("something along the lines of Cormac McCarthy's The Road") and even his palpable disappointment that they didn't create pamphlets for The Dog Stars (souvenir brochures that are commonly for sale in Japanese theaters). But what's missing is any kind of verdict on the movie itself, which, if you've been following along with Kojima's movie reviews, almost always means he disliked the movie and is too polite to say as much. Check out the full post below

Of course, if you read between the lines, Kojima's feelings about The Dog Stars are plain as day; he didn't get on with it, perhaps because it wasn't close enough to his McCarthy-aping expectations for his liking. Typically, there's a direct correlation between tweet length and Kojima's feelings about a movie, ie., the longer the tweet, the more warmly he feels about it. This is a rare example where that theory doesn't hold. Perhaps he didn't want to disparage the work of Death Stranding star Margaret Qualley so publicly.

So far this year, Kojima has been "blown away" by creepy pasta horror Backrooms, and was one of the few who liked Supergirl (he even compared it to The Good, the Bad and The Ugly). Still, Kojima's verdict on The Dog Stars is nowhere near as damning as his Return to Silent Hill movie review, which ran just 8 words long (savage). And over a year later, we're still waiting on his Electric State review.

As for The Dog Stars, Kojima wasn't the only person who didn't respond to the post-apocalyptic action drama, as despite costing almost $80 million to produce, it made less than $8 million at the US box office on its opening weekend. The 88-year-old Scott shows no signs of slowing down, however, as he recently revealed a third Alien prequel starring Michael Fassbender's David is in the works.

The Dog Stars is currently in theaters. For more, check out our guide to all the biggest upcoming movies heading your way this year.

Metal Gear Solid 4's new re-release in Master Collection Vol.2 appears to reference a fan-made Metal Gear Online project in its files, suggesting Konami relied on the project for DLC.

Back in the days of the Xbox 360 and PS3, it felt like every game had a multiplayer mode, even if it didn't need it. Nonetheless, this trend resulted in some shockingly great multiplayer experiences like Naughty Dog's Uncharted and The Last of Us online modes, Capcom's forgotten Bionic Commando reboot, and Bioshock 2.

Then, though Metal Gear Online debuted with Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence on the PS2, it took the Metal Gear Online 2 featured in Metal Gear Solid 4 to make the series' multiplayer a legendary experience. That brings us to the SaveMGO project, which allows players to play Metal Gear multiplayer to this very day.

Officially, Metal Gear Online went offline in 2012. However, SaveMGO has played a vital role in Metal Gear Solid 4's enduring appeal.

Now, it seems like Konami is acknowledging fan efforts. The SaveMGO Twitter account (via Time Extension) recently shared SaveMGO member Marko's reaction to a post in the Discord community for the project, in which someone shares references to SaveMGO in Metal Gear Solid 4's new port files.

The working theory among fans is that Konami used SaveMGO to access some of the now-deleted DLC for the game which consisted of camouflage patterns for Snake. Marko says, "That is awesome! So the only way they could get that stuff is thanks to the preservation potential of SaveMGO." SaveMGO says in its own tweet, "The original DLC might only exist today because SaveMGO kept it available all these years," adding that the team is "feeling proud."

While it wouldn't be the end of the world if DLC camo were missing from Metal Gear Solid 4, Konami's possible reliance on SaveMGO proves the importance of preservation, and more specifically, fan-made preservation projects. Because it's fantastic that I can still use cool Metal Gear Solid 4 camo, but it's even better that I can still play Metal Gear Online almost a decade-and-a-half since the servers shut.

91.8% of Metal Gear Solid 4 players immediately got the achievement for ripping a statue's privates clean off.

Metal Gear Solid 4 players on PC have earned one specific achievement right away, and all I can say is that poor statue.

Metal Gear Solid is an incredibly silly game series. The series features some of the greatest stories in gaming, with the best Metal Gear games still hitting like nothing else, even after multiple replays.

But yeah, those games can get dumb as hell.

There's a recurring character whose characterization revolves around his chronic IBS, which turns out to be a family trait, as his ancestor found in Metal Gear Solid 3 also can't stop dropping ass on a near-constant basis.

But aside from Mr. Poop, the games themselves are filled with silly little moments and interactions throughout the world. For example, you can slip on the bird droppings at the start of Metal Gear Solid 2, or the fourth-wall-breaking dialogue about the PS3 (which has been changed). One of these comes at the start of Metal Gear Solid 4, where you can pose next to statues to blend in, but if you go to the well one too many times, Snake accidentally rips off the statue's genitals.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2 features an achievement for doing so, called "Handle with Caution," which rewards you if you "broke off the most important part of a statue". And yesterday, once the game launched on Steam, BlueSky user Columbologist took a peek at the achievements list and discovered something. Frankly, they put it better than I ever could, with their post reading: "91.8% of players, having waited nearly 20 years for MGS4 to be playable on anything other than PS3, booted the game and immediately made a beeline for a statue's dick."

While the number is at a much lower 21.4% at the time of writing, the fact remains that mere hours after Metal Gear Solid 4 launched on PC, 91.8% of players had already pulled the statues' genitals straight off. Just as Hideo Kojima intended.

The Nintendo ports of Metal Gear Solid 4 replace the iconic PS3 and PSP in-game consoles with generic variants

With the release of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2, it's been confirmed that Nintendo editions of Metal Gear Solid 4 have removed PlayStation references from the game.

Metal Gear Solid 4 was famously a PS3 exclusive until this week, and the game itself made that clear. Throughout the game you could see a PS3 console on Snake and Otacon's plane, Sunny could be seen playing the PSP, and Snake used a Dualshock 3 controller to control the Metal Gear Mk. 2. On top of that, there's the famous scene where Otacon recounts how great the PS3 and Blu-Ray discs are.

We already knew that line had been changed to whatever platform you're playing on, but fans noticed Konami's online manual seemingly removed the console from the Switch versions, before Konami changed the image to show the PS3 again. But now the collection is out, fans have revealed that yes, Nintendo players won't see a PlayStation console.

On the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC versions of Metal Gear Solid 4, you'll still see the PlayStation controller and consoles, but for Switch 1 and 2 the DualShock and PSP have been changed to generic versions, while the PS3 console has a Kerotan frog from Metal Gear Solid 3 in its place.

There hasn't been an official statement about the change, but given that both the PC and Xbox versions have the PlayStation kit, many are assuming this was a call from Nintendo itself. Although, weirdly, the PlayStation seen in Metal Gear Solid is still present in the Switch version of the first collection, albeit in a very low-poly form. Still, if it's the price to pay to get Metal Gear Solid 4 on more platforms, I suppose it's not the biggest deal.

Speedrunner turns one of Metal Gear Solid 4's biggest bosses into a total pushover using the power of Master Collection Vol 2's enhanced framerate

A Metal Gear Speedrunner has discovered that the higher framerate in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2 has made one of the series ' most iconic boss fights a cakewalk.

Sure, it's almost 20 years old, but Metal Gear Solid 4 spoilers ahead for anyone about to experience it for the first time through the Master Collection.

Metal Gear Solid 4 may be a bit messy, but there's one thing it nails: nostalgia and fan service – before nostalgia bait became all the rage. Returning to Shadow Moses Island in Act 4 is one of the greatest gaming moments of all time, and it culminates with a power fantasy a decade in the making as you get to pilot Metal Gear Rex and have a scrap with the improved model Metal Gear Ray. It's a phenomenal boss fight and would be the best moment in the game if not for the final boss.

Jaguar King, a Metal Gear series speedrunner, posted a clip of their gameplay on Twitter, saying, "Thanks to 60FPS, Ray can be mega destroyed way faster than the original…" The attached clip shows the iconic Rex vs Ray scrap, with Rex launching missiles at Ray, then using its laser to destroy Ray's health bar almost instantly, with the fight lasting a mere 11 seconds in total.

Games having things tied to framerates isn't new. The original Metal Gear Solid is still 30 fps in Master Collection Vol. 1 for this very reason. Destiny 2 players also discovered differences in damage when the game was released on PC and had the 60fps option available. But what's weird about this is that Metal Gear Solid 4 was always technically 60fps; yes, the PS3 version never actually ran that well most of the time, but the game was built with a 60fps cap in mind, so it's strange that it would have an effect here.

Metal Gear Solid 4's most famous joke gets updated in Master Collection Vol. 2, with Konami even bringing back the original voice actor

Konami says that reboots of key franchises like Metal Gear, Castlevania, and Suikoden are an important part of its business strategy going forward.

Between a very public falling out between Hideo Kojima and Konami around the release of Metal Gear Solid 5, a pivot into Pachinko machines, and a general lack of new games, the company lost a lot of stock among fans for a while. However, in recent years, thanks to well-received re-releases of Castlevania and Metal Gear games, remakes of Silent Hill 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3, as well as a number of new titles like Silent Hill f, the publisher is back among fans' good graces.

And while Silent Hill f proved Konami isn't just relying on remakes of already-beloved games, Metal Gear in particular is so intrinsically linked with the name Hideo Kojima for many that some don't think we'll ever see a new original title in the series. But speaking to Nikkei Gaming, Konami president Hideki Hayakawa seems to suggest there is a future for the series and plenty more.

"Reboots of existing IPs such as Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, and Suikoden are important initiatives that serve as pillars of our business." Hayakawa says, adding, "At the same time, we have a strong desire as Konami to create entirely new genres and works."

The term "reboot" specifically evokes the idea that there will be a fresh start for Metal Gear Solid, as Silent Hill f was also detached from the main series' established beats enough to feel like its own thing.

Of course, Hayakawa could consider Metal Gear Solid Delta a reboot, and we could just end up seeing more remakes in the series, but at the very least, it appears there is a future for Metal Gear; it's just a matter of seeing exactly what that is.

As Hideo Kojima turns 63, the Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator says "I would like to remain focused on creating games" despite the interest in movies

Hideo Kojima has turned 63, and he's celebrating the milestone the best way he knows how… with a very long Twitter post.

Kojima celebrated his 60th birthday three years ago by pledging that he has no plans to retire, and with the list of upcoming Hideo Kojima games comprising OD and Physint as well as a line of projects like the Death Stranding anime and A24 film adaptations he's been keeping his word as of late. But Kojima's 60s have also been the peak of him dropping somewhat morbid details in interviews.

PS5 exclusive Physint, for example, is being made after he had the realization that people want something like Metal Gear while he was sick during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the time since he's spoken about having "a USB stick with all my ideas" as a kind of "will" and his desire to die in a movie theater when the time comes. Basically, dude has been getting weird with it.

And in celebration of his 63rd birthday, Kojima once again got a bit morbid on the timeline, with a Twitter post reading, "As I get older, the things I 'have to do' and the things I 'want to do' continue to increase. At the same time, the time I 'have to do them' continues to decrease." He adds, "I constantly need to reassess how I use my time and how I live my life. That said, once you've taken something on, you can't simply put it down and walk away."

Kojima also notes that 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of his career in games, with 1986 being the year he joined Konami, as well as the year the first title he ever worked on, Penguin Adventure, was released. Not only that, but the end of 2025 marked the 10th anniversary of the founding of the revived Kojima Productions as an independent studio.

The Death Stranding director also reaffirms his dedication to making games, by saying, "While I continue to receive various opportunities and offers, I would like to remain focused on creating games." So while it's been an expectation among fans that Kojima is eager one day to move on to direct a film, it may not be as likely as some expect.

Hideo Kojima isn't planning to blast off to space yet because he doesn't want to rush to his "ultimate dream," so he'll "keep on making games" for now.

A modder has released a trailer for a Metal Gear Solid mod which brings two-player co-op to the PS1 stealth classic.

A recent trend I've loved in the modding scene is players going back to classic games and implementing multiplayer into titles that were never designed for it. They are so prevalent there's an entire website dedicated to them. Super Mario 64 is one of the most famous examples – very recently, its sequel Super Mario Sunshine also had a mod released – as are the mods that allow full-blown co-op in FromSoftware games as opposed to certain sections. But one game I never expected this phenomenon to reach was Metal Gear Solid.

On their YouTube channel, a modder going by Felipe has released a "Pre-Alpha" trailer of their Metal Gear Solid Co-op mod. The description calls it "a world first" and says, "This is the first attempt to bring the original PlayStation classic into a true online multiplayer experience, something the original game was never designed to support." The video shows two versions of Solid Snake sneaking about Shadow Moses Island, fighting Genome Soldiers and the likes of Revolver Ocelot.

In the comments of the video, Felipe adds a FAQ section to delve deeper into the mod. They reveal that this is built on the GOG PC release, and that each player will be able to have their own camera within the mod. They also acknowledge later sections of the game that feature different gameplay styles, like the final Jeep sequence and rappel off the building, saying that the former will likely be single-player only but that the rest of the game should be possible.

Felipe also notes that the mod will have settings to balance the game to two players by increasing boss HP, and is thinking of increasing guard reinforcement numbers. The modder says that they will look into additional mod support for their multiplayer version of the game, and the likes of additional skins, which we've seen in similar multiplayer mods.

The mod is still in the early stages, but it's an impressive showing so far.

Nintendo Switch version of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection 2 seemingly removes the PS3 from Snake's plane, suggesting an iconic joke will have to be changed.

Update: Konami has seemingly updated the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 version of the online manual since this was discovered, with the screenshot now showing the PS3 seen in the other platforms' screenshots.

We have reached out to Konami for clarification and will update should be recieve a response.

Original Story: Metal Gear Solid fans have noticed a detail in the screenshots of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2 that may explain how the PS3 mentions are handled in the new port of Guns of the Patriots.

Metal Gear Solid 4 has become something of a cryptid among the Metal Gear fanbase; it's the only game in the franchise to remain an exclusive, and it was long thought to be unportable because it was built specifically for the PS3.

This adherence to the PS3 allowed Hideo Kojima and co to do some fourth-wall breaks, including a famous scene where Otacon calls back to Metal Gear Solid 1's disc swapping by saying "Oh wait! We're on PlayStation 3! It's a Blu-ray Disc. Dual-layered, too – no need to swap."

But now that the game is coming to platforms outside of the PS3, many are wondering what Konami will do with the line in Master Collection Volume 2.

As spotted by users on Reddit, the manual pages for Master Collection Volume 2 include a screenshot of the Metal Gear Solid 4 pause menu, which shows a live cam of what Sunny is up to on your plane, the Nomad.

In the original version, you can see a PS3 on the table in some scenes, and this remains the case for PlayStation, PC, and Xbox consoles. However, the Switch and Switch 2 versions of the game have removed the PS3 console, replacing it with what appear to be GA-KO dolls.

While this doesn't confirm anything about the iconic line, it does prove Konami is willing to change things up for the Master Collection ports, which in turn has led to speculation about what the line could be.

While it could easily just be the regular PS3 line, Nintendo versions removing the console has me thinking it will also be changed, and given Christopher Randolph returned for Metal Gear Solid Delta to record lines for the Xbox exclusive Snake Vs Bomberman mode, he and David Hayter are clearly still happy to work with Konami.

One user reckons we'll get a generic "We're on a modern game console - Digital download too, no need to swap," but maybe Konami could go the extra mile and change the line to be about whatever platform you're playing on. Or there's the worst-case scenario where the line is removed entirely for Nintendo fans. We'll find out soon enough, as it's only nine days til Metal Gear Solid 4 is finally free from the PS3.

Metal Gear Solid 4's Master Collection gets an impressive new showing, confirming 60fps, shorter load times, and that Solid Snake still loves his iPod

Hideo Kojima just unveiled a limited edition Death Stranding 2 CD player, developed in collaboration with km5. Apparently "made possible by Kojima's self-proclaimed love for analog media," (though I don't know who wants to tell them CDs are definitely not analog), the Instant Disc Audio Cp1 combines a Bluetooth-friendly disc spinner with the translucent orange aesthetic that will speak to any retro gamer's heart.

Like the regular CP1 it's based on, the build allows for a neat window into your current album, but the casing also allows for your lyric booklet (or the included Death Stranding 2-themed cards) to sit in pride of place as well. With rear mounting holes, the idea is that you can throw a CD in, stick the jacket on the front, and have your now-playing in full view on the wall.

Of course, even if that Bluetooth 5.3 version is upgraded from the original 5.0 on the normal model, you're still not going to get the full uncompressed CD experience here.

Audiophiles will be using the accompanying 3.5mm physical connection, but for most of us that sound quality is going to be just fine. Compatible disc formats span CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and MP3, so those old rips are ready to go. A 1,800mAh battery keeps everything running for approximately 7-8 hours (you'll be running somewhere 10 and 15 albums in that time).

The actual aesthetic keeps the BB pod at front of mind, from that bright orange colorway to the small LED 'BB' in the corner that swaps over to a track indicator when you're spinning. The original, for $40 less, comes in black and white, though there is a neon green colorway available for a whopping $209.

Kojima's Death Stranding CD player is a true limited edition drop. While it's still in stock at the time of writing, we're expecting the run to come to an end shortly. It's been up on km5's own site for a couple of days, so physical media revivalists with a flair for the Kojima should be investigating sooner rather than later.

• See all CD players at Amazon

For more audio solutions, we're rounding up the best gaming headsets and best gaming earbuds on the market.

He may be a little late to the game this time, but the king of Twitter movie reviews has spoken once again, and it sounds like Hideo Kojima is a fan of 2026 horror hit Backrooms.

"I'm blown away," said Kojima over on Twitter. "It reminds me of pseudo-3D games from the 2D era, back in the dawn of RPGs and the Family Computer (NES), before polygons and textures existed… That sense of confinement. That feeling of anxiety. Both are revived here in live action. The art direction is clever, incorporating elements of art, architecture, and psychology." Check out Kojima's full review below.

Backrooms hit the big screen on May 29, 2026. After a long theatrical run, the movie finally landed on digital in mid-July. However, the movie has yet to hit screens in Japan.

Based on the online urban legend of the same name, Backrooms has had an extremely impressive theatrical run, smashing all expectations and grossing over $330 million worldwide. That is quite the feat considering the film's $10 million production budget, and the fact that it is 21-year-old director Kane Parson's feature film debut.

Although he didn't create the original Backrooms image and story posted on 4Chan in 2019, Parsons extended the urban legend over on YouTube. Parsons' Backrooms web series further explored the fear of liminal spaces, where monsters lurk at every corner. The movie then takes that one step further, following an employee at a furniture showroom who finds a doorway leading to an endless network of interconnected rooms.

The movie was such a hit that last month Parsons released a director's cut titled Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition. The cut hits the 2 hours 6 minutes mark, and includes bonus footage that Parsons edited on his laptop himself. It's not just Kojima who has been blown away, though, as Parsons is now very much in demand in Hollywood.

For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming horror movies heading our way.

Euphoria star Hunter Schafer has revealed she's recently performed in mocap for Hideo Kojima's upcoming horror game OD.

Despite knowing about the upcoming Hideo Kojima games for a while now, we really don't know all that much about either of them. We do know that horror title OD will be first up to the plate, with the game being announced at The Game Awards 2023, but – despite a very naked gameplay leak a year before the game was announced – Kojima claimed his studio was just beginning to work on OD last year. We did get our second trailer last year, while Kojima is hyping it up as a game that goes "beyond the limit of 'scariness."

Well, we now have a slight update on the production of OD, as Schafer – when speaking to IGN at SDCC 2026 – says working OD "was a lot of fun" and that she "just did mocap not too long ago."

Schafer also says "that was my first experience doing motion capture," adding that she loves "how much imagination is involved in filming something like that." She notes: "I just think Hideo's a genius and so lovely to work with"

Beyond that, Schafer speaks about the games she's been playing, calling The Last of Us Part 2 "life-changing," and revealing she has recently played Journey, which she describes as "really simple and gorgeous."

For comparison, Death Stranding 2 motion capture was completed in May 2024, and took just over a year to release from that point. So, come time for The Game Awards this year, I'd suspect (or hope) we might find out a bit more about OD, and have a better idea of what it is and when it's releasing.

Hideo Kojima isn't planning to blast off to space yet because he doesn't want to rush to his "ultimate dream," so he'll "keep on making games" for now.

Hideo Kojima still wants to go to space, but for now he's going to keep making games, and he says that's a good thing.

Metal Gear Solid creator Kojima really hasn't kept it quiet that one day he wants to go to space, so much so that Valve boss Gabe Newell tried to set Kojima up with a tour of SpaceX. Over on Twitter, Kojima recently posted a video of his comments during a panel at Il Cinema in Piazza – a film festival in Rome – where he explains (translated by Genki_JPN) his current thoughts about his space travel aspirations.

"I want to share this with all of you: We all want to make our dreams come true, right?" he begins. And obviously he isn't talking about his dreams with "voluptuous nude women," reanimated "decomposing bodies," and a very impolite coach, as he explains, "I want to go to space and I want to make a movie." However, he adds, "it wouldn't be good if those dreams just came true."

"That's because dreams are goals," Kojima explains, "The idea is to achieve the second, third, and fourth dreams along the way before reaching your ultimate dream." He adds that "for the time being, I think I'll keep on making games without going to space."

I would say perhaps he can go to space once he retires from creating games (although he said he has no plans to retire). However, at that same event, he also said he wants to die in a movie theater, preferably just after the trailers, so unless they build theaters in space, he's probably going to have to come back to Earth at some point.

The original Metal Gear Solid is free to play on Steam this weekend as Konami gears up for Master Collection Volume 2.

Ahead of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2 releasing next month, Konami is letting everyone play Metal Gear Solid for free this weekend.

2026 has been a landmark year for those of us who are still obsessed with the year 1998. Spyro is getting a new entry, Resident Evil Requiem felt like as much of a sequel to Resident Evil 2 as anything else, Pokemon Gen 1 returned, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is set to get a remake releasing later this year. So, not to be outdone, Konami decided to remind everyone what the real best game of 1998 was, and is letting everyone play Metal Gear Solid.

Over on Steam, the Master Collection Volume 1 edition of 1998's Metal Gear Solid is free to play for anyone right now, which grants you access to the PS1 classic, as well as its expansion pack Metal Gear Solid VR / Special Missions, and the Japanese exclusive Integral. On top of that there's a full screenplay and "Master Book" which features artwork, character bios, a series timeline and the like.

This free weekend also arrives alongside Metal Gear Solid Master Collection's deepest Steam discount to date at £24.99 | $29.99 (which it's only been at twice before in the previous two Steam Summer Sales).

The best part of this deal, however, is that Metal Gear Solid is not really all that long. You could absolutely beat the entire game as part of this free weekend and experience one of the all-time greats free of charge

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2 brings 4K 60fps to MGS4 and Peace Walker, Konami announces, but Switch 1 still gets saddled with 30fps.

Konami has revealed the performance targets for Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2, and 4K 60fps Metal Gear Solid 4 is finally within reach, even if Switch 1 users are getting shortchanged again.

Konami released details about both Metal Gear Solid 4 and Peace Walker's performance on its website. It's mostly as you would expect based on the previous game: Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC will be running at 4K 60fps; Switch 2 and Xbox Series S will be 1440/60 – with 1080/60fps in MGS4's handheld mode and for both on Peace Walker for Switch 2.

Once again, the original Nintendo Switch is stuck with 1080/30fps in docked and 720/30fps in handheld. That includes Peace Walker – a 2010 PSP game that ran at 60fps when its HD edition was released on 2005's Xbox 360.

Metal Gear Solid 4 at 60fps was already revealed a few months back with the first gameplay of the re-release. On Switch 2, the game has selectable image modes between "Adjusted and Original," with the handheld mode only getting Original. Presumably, one of these matches the other platforms, with a slightly more inconsistent framerate.

Funnily enough, Metal Gear Solid 4 was always capable of 60fps, but getting it to run as such on PS3 was only possible in really specific circumstances, and most of the time you'd be dealing with sub-30fps in action scenes. But having the game run at a stable 60fps will be a game-changer.

Peace Walker, on the other hand, has a number of different resolution and upscaling options. Konami also released a video showing off the "High Resolution" mode for the game's hand-drawn cutscenes, with the new version having a much clearer image compared to the somewhat blurry original.

While Metal Gear Solid 4's big return is the clear star of the show here, I'm hoping to see Peace Walker's stock rise with this re-release, so people can finally see it for being one of the best Metal Gear Solid games… perhaps even better than MGS4 some may say.

After almost 25 years, Metal Gear Solid 2 players are still finding secrets: "This is the kind of stuff somebody posts on an online forum in 2005 and no one believes it"

A modder has made Grey Fox playable in the original Metal Gear Solid, and it's way more impressive than it sounds.

Despite Snake (and Snake, and Snake, and Snake, and…) being a contender for the greatest video game character of all time, Metal Gear has a variety of side characters that all absolutely rule, and many hope for the chance to play as them. And while there's been the odd opportunity to play as whoever isn't the main protagonist of a given game (Tanker and Snake Tales in MGS2, Ocelot in Metal Gear Online), Metal Gear is pretty strict about having you play as the main character.

One such legendary side character is Grey Fox, who – after appearances in the MSX2 originals – appeared in Metal Gear Solid 1 as the series' first Cyborg Ninja. The character was so popular that he was the selling point and cover star of Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions, where he was briefly playable for a couple of missions. And while Hideo Kojima wanted the character to get his own game as a sequel to Metal Gear Rising, it never materialized.

However, Grey Fox is finally getting his day in the cold alaska moon, as YouTube user Perfect Pizza has released a first look at the final version of their "Playable Grey Fox mod" for Metal Gear Solid. On first read this may not sound that impressive, perhaps the thought of "oh they just moved the VR Missions character into the main game," crossed your mind? Well this mod is not nearly that simple.

Watching the trailer, right away you'll notice you have access to Grey Fox's arm cannon, which saw use throughout Metal Gear Solid, but never actually got used in his previous playable appearance. The High Frequency Blade has gotten a buff too with a new trailing effect and the ability to ricochet bullets back at enemies, and there's new movement options with crouch walking introduced. The mod promises a ton of changes, like "automatic open and close face visor upon alert,""custom animations," and "custom codec calls".

On the mods Discord, Perfect Pizza explains "This mod uses the PSX decompilation project’s ability to modify the game’s C code and build a new executable using the developer version of Metal Gear Solid." Adding "At the time of creation, neither the AI Grey Fox boss nor the playable VR Ninja have been fully decompiled. As a result, everything shown so far has been recreated through reverse engineering, existing game code, experimentation, and educated guesses."

They explain, "The goal is to let players experience an expanded version of Grey Fox vs what was given to us in VR missions with as many of his signature abilities and some new ones as the game’s limitations allow, while preserving core gameplay features such as crawling, elevators, weapons, and environmental interaction." and that "This project also lays the groundwork for a future version that could allow players to experience the entire game as Grey Fox."

Perfect Pizza also says "This is not a complete story-mode conversion" but that "A separate project, which I am not affiliated with, is working toward making the full campaign playable by rebuilding all the stage overlays and making the compiled exe shiftable. The future of a complete Grey Fox playthrough depends heavily on that effort."

Regardless it's an impressive mod that actually allows playable Grey Fox found in VR Missions to live up to the version we hoped he would be all along, and even if a full version doesn't show up, it'll be fun to play about with.

After almost 25 years, Metal Gear Solid 2 players are still finding secrets: "This is the kind of stuff somebody posts on an online forum in 2005 and no one believes it"

After the news that Sony will be sunsetting PlayStation discs, Hideo Kojima has spoken out on the importance of physical media.

"Since production is ending in 2028, this is about video games, but I grew up with physical media, so I find it really sad," Kojima said at the Il Cinema in Piazza film festival (translated via Genki_JPN). "Currently, I've been buying up a lot of Blu-rays, such as various movies, and CDs too.

"The situation is different for games, as they are downloaded to the hard drive, that means the game data remains on your own hardware. However, if things shift to streaming in the future, that won't be the case anymore," he continued.

"With streaming subscription services, like Netflix or Amazon, there is a server somewhere, and you essentially just have the right to turn the tap, and when you do, the data flows out. That's how movies work on these platforms, right? You don't download the data, you access it directly through a subscription. And the consequence of that is that you don't actually possess the data yourself.

"There are companies that own these servers and let you 'turn the tap' for a monthly fee. However, with nations, politics and various ways of thinking, one naturally has to consider the possibility that if there is a change, the data inside will stop being distributed. And if that happens you won't be able to watch or play the movies and games you like. That is what is frightening.

"So, what is happening to video games in 2028, might also happen to movies. I'd like everyone to keep that in mind," he said.

One hot topic in streaming has been movies or shows getting deleted from their streaming homes, effectively rendering them lost media. For example, Disney and Lucasfilm's Willow TV show was removed from Disney Plus and, since it never got a physical release, you can no longer watch it.

As for games, the shift might already be here ahead of 2028, as GTA 6 will ship out codes in boxes rather than a physical disc.

"As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028. Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only. This transition has no impact on games that already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028 in disc format," Sid Shumen, senior director of SIE's content communications, announced in a post on the official PlayStation site.

"This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs. This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.

"We'll continue to prioritize our resources to drive innovation in how players can access games and provide choices as to where players prefer to purchase new games, whether that's at retailers or PlayStation Store. We remain committed to delivering a world-class gaming experience to our fans and we thank you for your continued support," the post concluded.

Keep up to date with all of this year's biggest film releases with our guide to the most exciting upcoming movies.

Metal Gear and Death Stranding mastermind Hideo Kojima is "really sad" about Sony's decision to stop producing physical copies of new PlayStation games in 2028, calling the idea of not being able to access the media we want in the future "frightening."

I'm not sure I can think of a single person who's happy about PlayStation's move to soon kill off its new physical games – it's devastating news for collectors, worrying for game preservationists, and raises concerns about all sorts of things from ownership to the second-hand game market, sharing with friends, and more. Kojima is understandably also upset, as he reveals in comments at the Il Cinema in Piazza film festival (translated by @Genki_JPN on Twitter).

"Since production is ending in 2028, this is about video games, but I grew up with physical media, so I find it really sad," he begins. "Currently, I've been buying up a lot of Blu-rays, such as various movies, and CDs too.

"The situation is different for games, as they are downloaded to the hard drive, that means the game data remains on your own hardware. However, if things shift to streaming in the future, that won't be the case anymore."

He looks to streaming services like Netflix as he notes that "there is a server somewhere, and you essentially just have the right to turn the tap, and when you do, the data flows out." However, he continues, because you don't download the data of those movies and shows, but rather gain access to them via your subscription, "the consequence of that is that you don't actually possess the data yourself."

And there lies a bigger problem – while the "companies that own these servers" will "let you 'turn the tap' for a monthly fee," things might not stay the same forever. "With nations, politics and various ways of thinking, one naturally has to consider the possibility that if there is a change, the data inside will stop being distributed," Kojima says. "And if that happens you won't be able to watch or play the movies and games you like. That is what is frightening."

As a huge fan of movies, Kojima clearly has concerns that this same issue approaching PlayStation could end up impacting the film industry, too. "So, what is happening to video games in 2028, might also happen to movies," he adds. "I'd like everyone to keep that in mind."

Kojima is far from the only developer worried about the death of physical media – last week's news saw many devs and publishers speak out against Sony's decision, with Larian Studios publishing director Michael Douse calling the situation "heartbreaking." Sony apparently already has another use for its disc factory in the form of microlenses, and has reportedly recently invested €30 million into the technology for manufacturing them. Needless to say, it doesn't seem likely that the company could backtrack on the idea, despite the mass backlash.

PlayStation's disc-less future could "heavily influence" Xbox and Nintendo's approach to physical games, former Sony boss says, calling the decision "dramatic."

The gaming world is getting philosophical ahead of the end of PlayStation game discs, and you can count Hideo Kojima among those concerned about the world's move to ephemeral digital data. At least, he was quite concerned about it back in 2021, and given today's news his five-year-old comments have taken on a new life.

"Eventually, even digital data will no longer be owned by individuals on their own initiative," Kojima said in a tweet on August 5, 2021. "Whenever there is a major change or accident in the world, in a country, in a government, in an idea, in a trend, access to it may suddenly be cut off. We will not be able to freely access the movies, books, and music that we have loved. I would be a have-not. That's what I'm afraid of. This is not greed."

There's a, uh, lot to chew on in there that goes well beyond your ability to get GTA 6 on a disc, but I'm not about to start philosophizing on the spread and decay of information in the modern era. Suffice to say, many players have found Kojima's words fairly prophetic in light of the PlayStation news, even if he didn't mention games specifically here. The tweet got some engagement back in 2021, but now you'll find thousands more quotes, replies, and retweets made just today.

Kojima already has a reputation for being a pop culture prophet. The world of Death Stranding, released in 2019, felt scarily close to the one we all began living as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, and way back in 2001 Metal Gear Solid 2 was predicting a future where AI feeds us half-truths by processing massive piles of junk data across the internet for easy consumption. The gaming world's cultlike admiration of Kojima might be a little extreme, but the man certainly knows how to build sci-fi that feels distressingly real as time goes on.

And, of course, Kojima himself is responsible for one of the most bitter reminders of what happens when a publisher fully cuts support for a digital game. PT was intended to be something of a demo for Silent Hills, but in the wake of that project's cancellation and Kojima's messy breakup with Konami, PT was delisted from the PlayStation Store. Not only that, Konami even prohibited users who'd played it from redownloading the game.

PT is perhaps the most extreme example we have of what happens when publishers do not care what happens to their digital games, and its reputation has only grown stronger given how high it stands among the best horror games of all time. Wanting to hang onto games like this? I don't think that's greedy, either.

Hideo Kojima says his pitch for OD sounded "crazy" to every publisher except Xbox.

Renowned video game developer and internet darling Hideo Kojima has become an action figure.

More specifically, he's going to be an adorable Nendoroid toy. Created by the Good Smile Company, these figures have built up a reputation for being high-quality, stylized display figures that look like chibi artwork come to life (AKA some of the best toys around, because c'mon – look at them). Now that same treatment has been applied to Hideo Kojima, and it's actually a bit eerie how well they've captured the famed game designer down to his intense stare and knowing smile.

Available to pre-order as we speak, the Hideo Kojima Nendoroid figure is $38.99 from Good Smile and is due to ship around this time next year. (Yes, the amount of time toy production can take is wild.)

Besides extensive articulation that allows you to pose the toy however you want, this mini Kojima comes with a host of alternate looks and a couple of accessories – there's a serious face, smiling face, thinking face, thumbs up, glasses, sunglasses, and a Ludens Duck. He's also wearing a Kojima Productions t-shirt, because of course he is.

Personally speaking, I'm a big fan of Nendoroids – to the point that I've made it my life's mission to get the Wind Waker version of Link, because it's truly magnificent. There's just so much character to them; you'd need a heart of pure, frigid ice not to be brought a smattering of joy by looking at them. Plus, they feel incredibly premium despite being quite affordable on the whole. Trust me, that's not always the case in the collectibles market; you're frequently paying through the nose for the privilege.

What do you think of the Kojima Nendoroid? Will you be adding it to your shelf, so he can peer pensively at you while you play OD or other upcoming Kojima games?

For more cool replicas, be sure not to miss the best Lego sets.

Hideo Kojima says he was called "crazy" while pitching the concept for his upcoming horror game OD, and only former Xbox CEO Phil Spencer understood what he was trying to do.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Kojima explains that he had trouble getting OD picked up by any publisher since "I pitched to many people, to the big companies, and also to the up-and-coming companies. All of them said the same thing."

Kojima continues, "They said that I'm crazy, and that they really don't understand the concept – that they will not be able to do it."

First unveiled during The Game Awards 2023 (following leaks the prior year as Overdose), OD claims it's going to be a horror experience "no one has ever seen before," and it's being made in collaboration with the likes of horror director Jordan Peele and a larger group of collaborators Kojima is calling his "Avengers." OD's concept (and namesake) is for the player to "overdose" on horror, with Kojima hyping it up as a game that goes "beyond the limit of 'scariness.'"

The idea ultimately appealed to Phil Spencer, who understood the concept and took it on board. Current Xbox CEO Asha Sharma also calls the project a "deeply moving game." She adds, "I've got great artists and creatives that can pick a great game better than I can, and so I want to give it space, but most importantly, I think it just represents another kind of game."

OD currently doesn't have a release date, and outside of a very naked leak and a couple of quick trailers, we really don't know too much about what it has to offer. It seems like the studio was waiting until Death Stranding 2 launched before going all-in on development, as Kojima said his studio was just beginning to work on OD last year. Both OD and Kojima's upcoming stealth game Physint were impacted by the SAG-Aftra strike in 2024, so it'll probably be The Game Awards at the earliest before we see another glimpse of them.

Hideo Kojima recommended Norman Reedus his "favorite" anime, and it sounds like The Walking Dead actor wants to turn it into a live-action movie.

If video game royalty Hideo Kojima is to be believed, Kojima Productions' upcoming single-player horror game OD is going to scare you so much that you'll contemplate quitting, but the game is designed in such a way to help you persevere.

If that all sounds incredibly vague and confusing, don't blame me. Kojima tiptoed around the topic of OD in an interview with Entertainment Weekly for Xbox's 25th anniversary. He's been tightlipped about the project since its reveal back in 2023, and it doesn't help that he's previously described it as "a new form of media" that "explores the concept of testing your fear threshold, and what it means to OD on fear." What exactly that means still isn't clear, but Kojima says there's a whole new system that'll help you navigate the horror if OD happens to go beyond your threshold for fear.

"I wanted to go beyond the limit of the 'scariness' that other games had reached," he says. "It's a single-player game, and I wanted to make it as scary as possible.

"But for those that might stop playing when it gets too scary, I have thought of a system that will allow them to keep going. I can't say much more, because it'll give too much of a hint on the system, and I could get in trouble for saying too much!"

As a self-professed scaredy cat, who just happens to love horror games much to the detriment of my blood pressure, I'm cautiously reassured by this. Kojima is responsible for one of the scariest games I've ever played in PT, and if that "playable teaser" was any longer than an hour or so, there's no way I would've been able to beat it in one sitting. I'm relieved to hear Kojima and co. are considering wimps like me while developing OD, but it's hard to feel completely comfortable until we know the details of this new system.

Capcom tackled the issue of fear thresholds masterfully in Resident Evil Requiem, which frequently bounces between the unbearably tense Grace Ashcroft sections and the cathartic, action-packed Leon Kennedy sequences, offering much-needed breaks from the tension that you don't get in Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, which director Koshi Nakanishi has admitted was "possibly too scary." Hopefully we'll learn more soon about Kojima's plans to keep sissies like me from tapping out while playing OD.

Hideo Kojima recommended Norman Reedus his "favorite" anime, and it sounds like The Walking Dead actor wants to turn it into a live-action movie.

Metal Gear Solid 2 is now approaching 25 years old, and players are still discovering things about the classic game.

Metal Gear Solid 2 is one of the PS2 titles that truly felt 'next-gen' when it came out, or so I'm told since I was five at the time and only cared about Crash Bandicoot. But all of the little details that make that game's world so special are well known now – things like how the ice cubes would melt slowly if you shot the bucket at the bar, or Snake getting a cold if he stays out in the cold too long.

And yet, multiple playthroughs later (including one about a month ago), and I never knew about one hidden detail, and it looks like almost no one else did, either. "After more than 2 decades of playing MGS2, I thought I'd seen everything, then this happened", a user on Reddit writes, sharing an extremely specific interaction that can happen towards the end of the Tanker chapter.

When Snake is making his way to the room where Metal Gear Ray is housed, there are multiple open areas you can hide in off to the side, but as has now been discovered, peeking round the corner at the approaching enemy will cause a metal pipe to fall, alerting them.

The comments are just as shocked as me to find this out, with the top response saying: "Holy shit, what? Same here. This game is legendary, man." A response adds: "I think the insane level of detail on these games, particularly MGS2 and MGS3 is often overlooked. I was absolutely blown away by MGS2 when I was a teenager playing it for the first time, and even now I think the graphics and overall environment design are unbelievable." Meanwhile, another puts it perfectly, "This is the kind of stuff somebody posts on an online forum in 2005 and no one believes it to be real."

And sure, a pipe falling over isn't exactly mind-blowing stuff, but it's just one of the myriad details that makes Metal Gear Solid as a series so beloved.

Metal Gear Solid Snake actor David Hayter didn't understand all of Hideo Kojima's story while recording, but says he didn't need to: "That's what makes Metal Gear, Metal Gear."

Metal Gear and Death Stranding mastermind Hideo Kojima has stated that he's "not interested" in AI-generated art, despite his recent appearance in an AI-generated short film created by Pusher and Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn (who also did the motion capture for Heartman in Death Stranding and its sequel).

Late last month, many Kojima fans weren't exactly pleased to see the game director – or rather, an AI-generated version of him – show up in an AI-generated video promoting Satellites 2, a new Prada Mode art exhibition that's been open to the public in New York over the last few days. The video sent Kojima's AI lookalike on a journey through space alongside AI Refn, before landing on Earth and seemingly checking into the Hotel Chelsea, where the exhibition was being held.

Now, though, at the exhibition itself, Kojima has expressed disinterest in the technology. Speaking to The Washington Post, he explains that he thinks real people need to be present when art is created.

"Art is life," he begins. "But in 50 years, 100 years, I don't know. Maybe AI could create art, but while I live, I don't think I'll see it. I'm not interested in it."

Kojima continues: "We'll find a good way, a good path to how we use technology, and it's really up to young people on how we use it."

The Metal Gear creator has shared his take on AI numerous times over the last year or so – he previously said that instead of using AI to come up with ideas, he would personally "lead the creative part and use AI to boost efficiency" and "handle the tedious tasks." He also once spoke about the "trend" of AI "coming into game creation" and likened it to an evolution like games becoming 3D and using online connectivity.

I can't help but wonder if Kojima's now clearly stated disinterest in AI art could partially come in response to the negativity that followed his appearance in the Satellites 2 video. To be clear, he didn't personally create it, but his association with it didn't go down very well, to put it lightly. Even so, he doesn't acknowledge this backlash at all when speaking to The Washington Post, so it remains somewhat unclear exactly where he stands on that specific video.

Hideo Kojima learns that Higgs is the world's favorite Death Stranding 2 character, but he's just glad all his children have fans.

Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima has finally gone to space thanks to a new short film from Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn, though you'd have to wonder if the price of admission was worth it. Reactions to the video, made with the aid of GenAI, are swiftly being met with disappointment from many of Kojima's fans, to put it mildly.

As reported by Women's Wear Daily, the 14th edition of the Prada Mode event was previewed at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this week. Part of that involved the film in question, which sees Kojima traveling through space, crashing on a planet, and finding the Chelsea Hotel – the site of Prada Mode.

"Throughout our extended friendship, Hideo Kojima and I have shared the feeling that we were somehow split from the same consciousness moving through different lives while orbiting the same obsessions. That idea became the spark for a film: a space odyssey following us as we traverse a sci-fi dreamscape," Winding Refn says, adding, "the project is both an artistic experiment and a playful exploration of new creative possibilities through AI technology."

And so, Kojima goes to space, something the director has been talking about for years, which also saw Valve boss Gabe Newell set up a SpaceX tour that doesn't appear to have gone ahead yet.

So it goes with films made with AI; it looks terrible. Kojima's face morphs into different faces pretty much every time you see him, and it has that general filter of crap that is prevalent in all AI art. Clearly, hiring people to hang out on a soundstage with low-budget props is clearly too much effort, even if 60's Star Trek holds up better.

Reactions to the post on Twitter have evoked the reactions you'd expect: "Heartbreaking to see such great artists resort to generative AI slop," one response says, while Alien Earth artist Reid Southen responds, "With all the resources you have, AI is what you're going with here? And it's even worse than the typical slop." While another puts it perfectly: "This looks like shit from a butt."

While I'm not too bothered about Winding Refn, seeing Kojima involved in this is extremely disappointing. Obviously, he's always seems keen to mix it up with anyone in Hollywood, but signing on to this after releasing multiple games that directly touch on this is a bit embarrassing. One Bluesky user summed it up well by posting, "Kojima: At long last, we have created The Patriots from my iconic video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Do Not Create the Patriots."

Maybe it's just because Metal Gear Solid 2 is fresh in my mind after a recent replay. Hopefully, this is a one-off, because my goat is washed otherwise.

Reminisce over better times by seeing how good Metal Gear Solid 4 looks in its upcoming Master Collection treatment.