// KOTAKU — GAMING
PlayStation Reportedly Dropped Kojima’s Game Due To A Growing Budget And Missed Deadlines
Earlier this week, PlayStation announced it was no longer going to publish Hideo Kojima’s Physint. At the time, it wasn’t clear why Sony was ditching Kojima, but a new report from Bloomberg explains that the project’s budget was growing too large and the team was missing deadlines which, along with other factors, led to PlayStation backing out, which in turn let Xbox swoop in to fund and publish the upcoming title.
On September 11, Bloomberg reported that, according to people familiar with the project, one major reason Sony cut ties with Physint was due to the commercial performance of Death Stranding and its sequel. These games reportedly didn’t meet PlayStation’s revenue expectations. Another issue is that Physint has reportedly missed deadlines and was on course to be overbudget. The game is reportedly still years away from completion, too, making Physint a very expensive investment for Sony. Another factor: PlayStation wasn’t excited to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into another game that, like Death Stranding, wouldn’t remain a PlayStation exclusive.
For many, the news was surprising. Kojima and PlayStation have had a long relationship, with the Metal Gear Solid franchise calling the console its main home for decades. And when Kojima and MGS publisher Konami parted ways in a messy, public split in 2015, it was PlayStation that swooped in to provide the famous game designer with funding for his next game, which would end up being Death Stranding. But Bloomberg reports that many of the PlayStation executives who had developed a close relationship with Kojima over the years are no longer at the company. Seemingly, those who remain don’t see investing in Kojima’s next big game as a valuable move.
Meanwhile, the outlet reports that Xbox and its new CEO, Asha Sharma, saw Physint as a good investment for a few reasons.
One of the main factors is the PC. Sony is reportedly done releasing PC ports of its big games (at least those that aren’t focused on online multiplayer), so the company wouldn’t make any money from the eventual release of Physint on PC via a different publisher. But Xbox releases all of its games on PC and reportedly is planning to do the same with Physint. The Xbox deal with Kojima also includes film and TV rights for both Physint and Kojima’s other current project, the horror game OD. That title was already being published by Xbox as part of an earlier deal.
“Betting on Kojima-san is an easy call,” an Xbox spokesperson told Bloomberg. “We believe in his team’s ability to build AAA games with groundbreaking, new IP and we believe in OD, Physint, and our growing partnership.”
For PlayStation, the timing of this news couldn’t be worse. The company is dealing with a lot of messy situations that have fans turning on them. The company’s recent announcement that it was ending physical game production in 2028 sparked a backlash that is still ongoing in the comments below every official PlayStation post. Wolverine, PlayStation’s next big exclusive game, has been getting middling reviews from critics. PlayStation has also suffered a number of high-profile misfires and cancellations as it continues to try to build live-service hits, but releases games like the short-lived Concord. Its treatment of Bungie and Destiny 2 has also angered many fans, as has its closing of studios like Bluepoint. So ditching Kojima’s next game, believed to be a Metal Gear-like stealth action game, is only going to be yet more bad news to dump on the pile.
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