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.
As confirmed earlier through our official channels, in mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the PHYSINT project. PHYSINT is an important project both to me personally and to KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS. Determined to keep… pic.twitter.com/rQqhxAnb7NSeptember 10, 2026
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.
