Kojima Ditched by Sony: Xbox Picks Up Physint, a Second Game and Movie Deals
Sony just handed the successor to Metal Gear to its biggest rival on a silver platter. Kojima needed a publisher, Xbox wanted a power play—the deal took just three months.
Last night, three press releases in nine minutes were enough to redraw the industry’s alliances. PlayStation confirmed it was dropping Physint, Kojima Productions’ action-espionage project, and Xbox immediately announced it would publish the game. It’s another blow in a rough streak for Sony, following a lawsuit over digital game ownership and a weeklong PS Plus boycott.
Image credit: Hideo Kojima / Sony / Xbox
June 2026: Sony cancels Physint without warning
The timeline is dizzying. In mid-June 2026, Kojima Productions received a notice from PlayStation Studios: Physint was canceled, plain and simple. Hideo Kojima called the move “unexpected”—no prior talks, no warning signs. Overnight, the indie studio was left without a publisher for what Kojima described as “an important project, both personally and for Kojima Productions.”
What followed was three months of frantic searching. Kojima says he “relentlessly looked for a new partner,” holding talks until he found a shared vision with Xbox. The deal itself happened in just nine minutes on the night of September 9: PlayStation posted its withdrawal at 10:30 p.m. Eastern, Xbox announced the partnership a minute later, and Kojima gave his side at 10:39 p.m.
X
— (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) date
Xbox isn’t just getting a game—it’s getting a creator and his transmedia universe
The deal between Xbox and Kojima Productions goes way beyond a publishing contract. With Physint, Microsoft adds a second title to its partnership with the Japanese studio, after the horror project OD already in the works. But the most telling part is the transmedia angle: the two will also collaborate on film and TV projects, a natural extension for a creator obsessed with cinema.
Asha Sharma, who’s led Xbox since February 2026, personally handled the negotiations. “Creators have the right to choose where and how they bring their ideas to life. We’re honored Kojima-san chose Xbox,” she said, adding that “his drive to break conventions is exactly the kind of creativity we want to support.” The message is clear: while Sony lets go of its auteurs, Xbox is building an ecosystem around them. All this as a disappointing PS Plus lineup fuels PlayStation subscriber frustration.
Even PlayStation’s former boss is stunned
When Shuhei Yoshida, former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, publicly reacts on Twitter saying he’s “surprised,” it’s hard to ignore. He ran PlayStation’s studios for years and knows the Sony-Kojima relationship inside out. His measured response says a lot about the confusion this decision has caused, both inside and outside the company.
The community’s reaction is even sharper. Comments under PlayStation’s statement swing between disbelief and cold anger. Some joke that maybe “Physint” sounded too much like “physical” for a company ditching discs in 2028. Others sum it up with a blunt “another L.” This loss is just the latest in a string of controversial moves—ending physical support, studio closures, the Concord flop—that are eroding the trust of a once fiercely loyal player base, as PS6 prepares to face off against Xbox’s Positron.
Physint: Kojima’s personal gamble Sony refused to back
To grasp the scale of PlayStation’s blunder, rewind to January 2024. Physint was unveiled at a PlayStation Showcase in true Hollywood style: Hermen Hulst, then head of PlayStation Studios, appeared alongside Kojima on the Columbia Pictures lot. The message was crystal clear. “I’m thrilled to announce that, as part of the PlayStation and Kojima Productions partnership, Hideo will take us on a new adventure—one I’ve encouraged him to reinvent for years,” Hulst told the cameras.
Conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic, the project marks for Kojima a return to the action-espionage roots that made his legend with Metal Gear Solid. Here’s what the Xbox-Kojima deal now covers:
- OD, the experimental horror title already in development
- Physint, the spiritual successor to Metal Gear
- Collaborations on film and TV projects
Eighteen months after that Hollywood reveal, Sony walked away from the project with no public explanation. PlayStation’s statement insists that “the relationship remains strong after three decades of creative collaboration,” but the facts tell a very different story. Kojima, for his part, reassures fans: Physint’s development continues and “will keep moving forward.”
The irony is hard to miss. Sony handed its most iconic creator of recent years to its direct rival, just as Xbox was looking to redefine itself around auteurs and transmedia. Physint doesn’t have a release date yet, but this transfer will go down as one of 2026’s most dramatic shake-ups—and maybe the moment PlayStation stopped being the natural home for Japan’s greatest creators.
