Hideo Kojima didn’t think Physint “would be on the list of being cancelled” by Sony, as it is “the biggest-selling title [he] could possibly create.”
“We couldn’t understand it,” Kojima told The Washington Post. “Jim Ryan had already retired, but I thought this was a project that Sony Interactive Entertainment and I had agreed to team up on and make together.”
“I was just shocked and surprised. I didn’t have any anger or sadness. I was just thinking, ‘What should I do?’ It’s a big problem for us and I couldn’t tell staff at the time.”
On September 10, Kojima announced that his studio had “unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios” in mid-June that it would stop funding Physint.
“We’re an independent studio. That means if they can’t fund us, our studio could collapse,” he said. “So many people who went independent and made a new studio have struggled to become really successful.”
“If my studio closes as well, that’s all the more reason for people to not go to independent studios anymore. I wanted to stand firm for indies, so I needed to find a new partner.”
Kojima Productions found that partner in Xbox, which is also producing the studio’s upcoming horror title OD. Kojima confirmed that the decision led to no layoffs, and staff were reassigned to work on OD with a small team continuing development on Physint.
Kojima stated that Sony did not provide a reason for cutting funding. According to a Bloomberg report, Physint had “missed deadlines and was on track to be well over budget despite being years away from release.”
Sources also indicated that Death Stranding and its sequel did not meet revenue expectations.
In response, Kojima Productions stated “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.”
“Make no mistake, this was a serious situation for the studio with a range of potentially significant implications. 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.”
Kojima reiterated that the studio still has a relationship with Sony despite its decision. “Corporations are like living things,” he said. “We’re not in a dispute. We’re not fighting with them.”
Kojima said Physint’s plot and game concept are complete, the studio has started creating 3D models of its actors, and is testing various game engines.
“The cast I already talked to and negotiated with, other artists and collaborators who were all happy to do it,” said Kojima. “I can’t tell them this is cancelled, especially after what we went through with PT. I didn’t want to go back and do it again and say to the actors this is cancelled.”