Hideo Kojima on PlayStation Cancelling Physint: 'I Was Just Shocked and Surprised' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 21 September 2026 / 2,431 Views
Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions studio president Shinji Hirano in an interview with The Washington Post shared more details on what PlayStation told him when they decided to cancel Physint.
"I just went totally blank when they told me," said Hirano. "The biggest surprise was Hideo's actions after that. He went back to his room and started working."
Kojima said he was more worried about the company as they need funding in order t ocontinue operationg.
"I was just shocked and surprised," said Kojima. "I didn't have any anger or sadness. I was just thinking 'what should I do?'' It's a big problem for us and I couldn't tell staff at the time."
He added, "We're an independent studio. That means if they can't fund us, our studio could collapse."
Kojima didn't want him and the team go through the another cancellation like they did with PT.
"The cast I already talked to and negotiated with, other artists and collaborators who were all happy to do it. I can't tell them this is cancelled, especially after what we went through with PT," he explained. “I didn't want to go back and do it again and say to the actors 'this is cancelled.'"
He added, "This is the 10th anniversary of Kojima Productions and my personal 40th anniversary of making games, and in the midst of all that, this was an important title for me."
Despite PlayStation cancelling Physint Kojima said this hasn't affected his relationship with the company.
"Corporations are like living things," he said. "I still have this relationship with Sony. I use Sony cameras, Walkman still. We’re not in a dispute. We’re not fighting with them."
Physint is an action espionage and is now being published by Xbox. It is also up to Xbox if the game will release as an Xbox console exclusive or not.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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What still gets me, something Kojima himself even mentioned, is that unlike Death Stranding, Physint is Kojima's return to his bread and butter. The genre he helped define, and would by far have the biggest possible sales potential.
How is it worse? We haven't seen the game yet and won't for many years to come. This could come out as a dud and Sony could come out of this saying, I told you so..
or This could come out as a masterpiece and Sony could come out of this saying, We fucked up..
Yeah this whole "what if?" scenario argument can be made for literally any game ever made lol
Which is why I said "sales potential" because there's no possible way to know. You just naturally come to the conclusion that a Metal Gear Solid successor has higher sales prospects than something more niche like Death Stranding.
Considering Kojima's track record, the game's probably going to be awesome but not necessarily for everyone. The only major concern is its sales performance.
Put it where, deleting even more people's digital game libraries?
Kojima said that it's up to MS if the game will be exclusive or not, I can't imagine it was going to be different with Sony.
That's after the project has been saved though MS likely have more clout over the project as a result, it sounds like it was a Death Stranding situation beforehand so likely a PC version as well much later and maybe a slight chance of an Xbox version.
Oh I have no doubt it’s a load of BS. Source was from an “insider”, some say he’s an analyst, that to me just looks like a console warrior passing it off as something that’s publicly confirmed.
We live in a world where any “insider” can make a post and have it start to spread.
Only official that’s actually been mentioned is Kojima saying there have been attempts by companies to buy the studio back in 2022. I don’t think anyone would be surprised if Sony was among the bidders since they literally helped him get the studio off the ground, but that’s the official extent of what’s factually known.
New video discussing the latest Kojima and Physint news is live - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zbV4RG1ef0
For those who dont associate with PS, its hard not to connect Kojima with Sony. Seeing this is a shock to everyone.
It seems he didn't take it personally. It's just the corporate world.
Nishino and Hulst need to go.
