PlayStation reportedly discontinued its involvement with Kojima Productions’ Physint due to “concerns over budget, potential profitability, and exclusivity.”
Sources familiar with the project told Bloomberg that Physint, announced in 2024, had “missed deadlines and was on track to be well over budget despite being years away from release.”
It was also reported that Death Stranding and its sequel, On the Beach, did not meet PlayStation’s revenue expectations.
Sources stated that, as a result, PlayStation were “reluctant to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in another game” from Kojima Productions that would end up being a timed exclusive.
Death Stranding launched exclusively on PlayStation in November 2019, later releasing on PC in July 2020 and on Xbox and Amazon Luna in November 2024.
Its sequel was also a timed exclusive, launching in June 2025 and releasing on PC in March 2026.
Last Thursday, Hideo Kojima stated that his studio “unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation that they would cancel the Physint project” in mid-June.
In a separate statement, PlayStation said it had “made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Kojima Productions” on Physint, but that its relationship with the studio “remains strong” and it looks “forward to continued close collaboration in the future.”
As for Physint, Kojima Productions found a new partner with Xbox. The studio had already partnered with the company for its in-development horror title OD.
“Creators have choices about where and how they bring their ideas to life,” said Sharma. “We’re honoured that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox to work with Kojima Productions on Physint. His ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at Xbox.”
Kojima added: “This expands our relationship with Xbox beyond OD. As we move forward with the development of Physint, we remain committed to redefining the action-espionage genre for players around the world.”