Hideo Kojima posted pictures on social media of himself visiting Sony in Japan while wearing a Joy Division T-shirt — and fans are certainly getting plenty of joy out of it.
The Metal Gear creator took to social media to post the photos showing him standing outside Sony City, also known as the Sony Corporate Office Building, in Tokyo, Japan. That wouldn’t normally be anything to write home about, but given recent events, there’s plenty of context we need to run through.
Earlier this year, Sony ditched Physint, Kojima’s Metal Gear spiritual successor, leaving the legendary game developer scrambling to find another publisher for the project. In an interview with IGN, Kojima revealed how he feared for the future of Kojima Productions after Sony confirmed its decision via a Zoom call.
Visited Sony City. https://t.co/b1lUNSx5T0
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) October 13, 2026
Kojima pitched Physint to Microsoft and new gaming boss Asha Sharma, who were suitably impressed to snap up the cast adrift project, including its adaptation rights for film and TV. In the wake of Physint’s move to Xbox, Bloomberg reported that Sony had concerns around the success of Kojima’s Death Stranding, as well as Physint’s development timeline, budget, and platform strategy. Kojima Productions issued a statement in response, although it failed to directly address Bloomberg’s reporting.
“Make no mistake, this was a serious situation for the studio with a range of potentially significant implications,” Kojima Productions said. “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.”
In our interview, Kojima insisted there was no bad blood with Sony, saying: “… from my side, I love Sony. And I don’t have any bad feelings against them because I know that it’s a tough time in the game industry. I’ve been working with them for like 30 years… Mr. Ken Kutaragi, Mr. Hirai, I was close with them. But it’s not like that recently. I realized that, okay, this is the reality. It’s the 10th anniversary of my studio. My studio might collapse, right?”
Kojima added that Sony did not provide a reason for canceling Physint, nor had it contacted him since the decision was made. “But I’m not fighting with Sony,” he continued. “We’re not in a dispute. But what I want to say is that we’ve been together for 30 years and we have this relationship. So if this was the conclusion, I would’ve wanted to hear it a little earlier. But that meeting in June, they just gave us the final notice.
“As I said, my mind went blank, so I didn’t really ask a lot of questions. It was more like, what should I do with my company? So that was what was on my mind at the time. I’ve always been a big Sony fan. I’ve been using a Walkman. All my cameras are Sony. So I have no bad feelings towards them.”
Fast forward four months, and we have Kojima visiting Sony. What should we make of this? Are the pair working on a secret project together? Could there be more to come from Death Stranding? Or is this… nothing? Either way, fans are having their fun, with people picking up on Kojima’s decision to wear a T-shirt for a band called Joy Division, and comparing the situation to Johnny Silverhand’s ill-fated and destructive assault on Arasaka Tower in Cyberpunk 2077.
@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN https://t.co/GpmbAoq071
— Bucky | Palworld (@Bucky_cm) October 13, 2026
@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN https://t.co/4WiEYqAg3Z
— Sköma (@HoloSkma) October 13, 2026
@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN @Kojima_Hideo https://t.co/gpwQYTQc9n
— elián 🍊 (@elianrepatriate) October 13, 2026
After the Physint news broke, there has been intense speculation about the budget for the game. In a recent New York Times profile of Asha Sharma, it was reported that Xbox may have negotiated a deal for less than you’d expect for a full price, triple-A spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid from the creator of the franchise.
Kojima told IGN that Microsoft was “not thinking of just funding a game. They’re thinking about movies and anime. It’s more about the IP. Let’s create a new IP. And that’s bigger in scale, so to speak. And not many other game publishers or game developers have that kind of vision.”
Physint remains without a release window. It is expected after the launch of OD, Kojima’s next video game for Xbox.
Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Kojima Productions.
Wesley is IGN’s Managing Editor. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].