New Report Sheds Light On Why Sony Tried Canceling Physint

So, the big story of the week has got to be Hideo Kojima finding a new publisher for Physint, the once-PlayStation-backed espionage game many saw as a spiritual successor to his legendary Metal Gear. While Sony seemed committed to seeing it through, XBOX came forward to become its new publisher after earlier this week, Sony attempted to cancel it.

A new report from Bloomberg (via DayOne) highlighted key reasons behind Sony decision, primarily around the lackluster sales of both Death Stranding games, missed deadlines, a lack of exclusivity (it would end up on PC, too), and it clearly was gonna go “well over-budget.” Frankly, that last point isn’t a shock, at least to me. Kojima did assert that your mom would think you’d be watching a movie, after all.

With PlayStation — and by extension, Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures — pulling support, Microsoft is left picking up the slack, partnering with Kojima on both games and other ventures, including films and TV projects. This also seems to mean Kojima has lost access to the Decima Engine, Sony’s in-house engine that’s powered franchises like Killzone and Horizon, but has also been the engine for both Death Stranding and its sequel.

Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger

Gabe's been a life-long gamer with his fondest memories involving Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank who transformed that love for gaming into a hobby for nearly a decade and counting.