Last week, we learned that Sony “stepped away” from Kojima Production’s previously PlayStation-exclusive “action espionage” game Physint. Following the announcement, which saw Xbox take over publishing duties for the in-development title, a new report has claimed Sony’s decision was the result of concerns over “budget, potential profitability and exclusivity”.
Now, IGN has conducted an interview with Kojima that sheds a little more light on the situation. In the chat – which covers a range of topics including Kojima’s fears for the future of the studio, the perils of working on multiple projects at once, and the implications of losing Sony resources – Kojima detailed how the conversation with the platform holder went, noting how that he was in a state of shock at the time, and finds the meeting difficult to recall.
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“I don’t remember so much of that meeting, to be honest with you,” Kojima told IGN. “And my colleagues probably don’t remember as well, so I can’t really answer if you ask me what exactly they said. But, 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.
“Nothing could’ve prepared me for their decision to step away from the project. So I thought, “What am I going to do from tomorrow?” But 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.”
Kojima noted that, during the call, Sony told him it could no longer fund development for the game, and that despite his awareness of the studio closures and job losses plaguing the games industry at the moment, he thought “Physint was OK, that Physint was safe”.
Kojima then recalled his working relationship with Sony: “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 realised that, okay, this is the reality that they’re giving me. It’s the 10th anniversary of my studio. My studio might collapse, right?”
Image credit: Eurogamer
Of course, that isn’t going to happen: Xbox dived in to save the game. “I approached Xbox and they were great. They could support us technically,” he said (something I was curious about, since the game was initially revealed alongside a big collaboration with Sony’s Columbia Pictures studios). “And also we’ve been working on OD with them, so we already had a connection. 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.”
Later on in the article, Kojima Prodcutions issues a statement – not tied to Kojima personally – replying to accusations made in the Bloomberg article:
“You may have seen a recent article that mentions Kojima Productions, speculating on the reasons for the change in publishing partners for Physint, notes the statement. “Normally, we would not comment on unsubstantiated speculation on the internet, but these aspersions around our relationship with PlayStation, the commercial performance of the Death Stranding franchise, and the broader production planning and investment for Physint, have reached beyond the studio and have touched our fans, our creative partners, and colleagues we have worked alongside with for three decades.
“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.”
It seems Xbox, at least, is happy continue betting on Kojima and Kojima Productions – especially after making Physint and OD the headliners of its TGS show, earlier this week. “Betting on Kojima-san is an easy call. We believe in his team’s ability to build triple-A games with groundbreaking, new IP and we believe in OD, Physint, and our growing partnership,” an Xbox spokesperson said.