Kojima Productions has directly answered the swirl of speculation about why PlayStation walked away from Physint, pushing back on a report that framed the split as a sign of financial trouble. The studio’s message is short and firm: it is doing fine, the game is still in development, and there is no feud with Sony.
Quick answer: The studio says it is in a healthy, profitable state, Physint development continues with Xbox, and its relationship with PlayStation remains strong.
What Kojima Productions said about the studio’s finances
In a statement posted to X, the studio acknowledged the recent coverage speculating about the change in publishing partners for Physint. It said it would not normally respond to internet speculation, but chose to this time because the claims touched fans, creative partners, and colleagues it has worked with for three decades.
The core of the response is a reassurance. The studio said the situation had been serious, with potentially significant implications, but insisted that it is in a healthy, profitable state, that development on Physint is moving forward with Xbox, and that its relationship with PlayStation is still strong. It also urged readers to treat the reporting with skepticism, noting that none of the claims came from an official or on-the-record source.
The alarm was partly fueled by a quote stripped of its context. Kojima warned that the studio might run out of cash and collapse, but he was recalling his anxiety after Sony initially withdrew funding—not describing the studio’s situation today.
The Bloomberg report Kojima Productions disputes
The statement was aimed at a report claiming that PlayStation dropped Physint for a mix of business reasons, and that the project was already running past its budget years before it could ship. That report leaned on anonymous sources, and Sony has not publicly confirmed the specific claims.
Here is how the reported reasons line up against what Kojima Productions has said publicly.
| Reported claim | Kojima Productions’ position |
|---|---|
| Death Stranding games missed revenue expectations | Studio is in a healthy, profitable state |
| Physint was over budget and behind schedule | Development continues and is moving forward |
| Concerns over the game not staying PlayStation-exclusive | Not addressed directly; publishing now sits with Xbox |
| Fallout damaged the Sony relationship | PlayStation ties remain strong |
The report’s claims were attributed to unnamed sources, and neither Sony nor PlayStation has published a detailed explanation for stepping away from the project.
How Sony’s Physint cancellation played out
The break happened suddenly. In mid-June, PlayStation Studios told Kojima Productions it would stop funding Physint, delivering the news over a Zoom call. Kojima described being caught completely off guard.
Learning that they would no longer finance Physint stunned me. I asked, ‘What did you say?’ because I had trouble taking in the news.
Kojima said he understood the wider pressures on the industry, with studios closing and projects being canceled, but he had believed Physint was safe. His first worry was not the game. It was whether his roughly 200-person studio could survive the loss of funding.
Despite the shock, he was clear that this is not a bitter breakup. He said he still loves Sony and holds no bad feelings, pointing to the difficult moment the games business is in. He has worked with the company for about 30 years, dating back to relationships with executives like Ken Kutaragi. The corporate landscape shifted after former Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan retired.
Where Physint stands on PlayStation and Xbox
After the funding fell through, the studio spent roughly three months hunting for a new partner before landing on Xbox, which it had already worked with on the horror project OD. Xbox leadership responded enthusiastically to the pitch, and executive Asha Sharma has framed backing the studio as an easy decision.
Physint is now planned for PC and Xbox consoles, with no PlayStation version listed. Asked if it might still reach PS5, Kojima explained that the decision is no longer his to make. He said he could not answer and that Xbox would have to be asked, while also acknowledging that he was unsure. This differs from the studio’s Death Stranding-era strategy of making games for multiple platforms while working with Sony.
Physint’s development status
Physint was first shown at the very start of 2024 as a stealth and action-espionage game, and only concept art has been shared so far. It was always positioned as a far-off, next-generation title, and recent comments make clear the wait will be long.
Kojima has said he has not decided which engine the game will use, and that he is still experimenting. He noted that Xbox is providing a lot of technological support and that he wants to use whatever helps the project. He notably avoided naming the Decima engine that powered Death Stranding, a sign it may not carry over. OD, the studio’s other Xbox game, is built in Unreal Engine 5.
For now, the takeaway is simple. The studio says Physint is alive, its books are healthy, and its long relationship with Sony has not been burned. What remains uncertain is when the game will actually arrive, and whether PlayStation owners will ever get to play it.
