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The story
PlayStation Studios announced it is withdrawing from its collaboration with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on the upcoming title PHYSINT. In response, Hideo Kojima took to X to explain the situation, revealing that SIE abruptly notified him of the project’s cancellation in mid-June this year, and that after three months of searching for a new partner, he has decided to team up with Xbox once again. On 5ch, the news sparked surprise that the split was SIE’s decision, along with speculation about the underlying causes — including sluggish sales of Death Stranding 2 and Kojima’s reported opposition to Sony’s plan to discontinue physical discs.
What people said
We continue to hold tremendous respect for Hideo Kojima's vision for the game.
Our relationship remains strong even after 30 years of industry-leading, genre-defining creative collaboration.
As just announced in KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS' official release, in mid-June this year we suddenly received notice from SIE that the "PHYSINT" project currently in development would be cancelled. PHYSINT is a project that matters deeply to both myself and KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS, and for the past three months we have been searching relentlessly for a "new partner" so we could carry on with it no matter what. After consulting with people from many different fields and advancing negotiations, we have decided to team up once again with XBOX, a partner who shares our "vision for the future." Please don't worry — development of PHYSINT, the next-generation "espionage action" title, is continuing.
Sounds like Sony's the one who cut them loose (´・ω・｀)
If they were going to cut ties,
why partner up in the first place?
Wait, Sony was the one who cut them loose?
It says right there, 'suddenly, from SIE' Re: #3
losing it lately
Death Stranding 2 was such a dud, no wonder they got cut
lol
Well, I can't be bothered visiting that cesspit anyway, so I've got no interest in checking how it's going
SIE's the one who cut them loose — 'of all places' doesn't even make sense here
Discontinuing discs, lol
Oh right, he did say something about that lol
So this is what set off the 'Cancel-happy Sony' curse? (a 5ch meme for Sony's reputation of abruptly axing projects)
No idea what the budget was, but including PS/PC, Death Stranding 2 probably sold around 3 million
Guess they decided it wasn't worth it
If 3 million in first-party sales is what they got, that's actually decent, but that's probably not the bar SIE was aiming for, and they likely sank a fair amount of money into it too.
MS might end up wasting a bunch of money on this too
Both Sony and Kojima fans clearly wanted PHYSINT to be his first game after going independent
What was the point of making two Death Strandings, some actor's vanity project?
Death Stranding happened because of budget reasons
There's no way you can make an AAA game on a shoestring budget
@Kojima_Hideo · Hideo Kojima
As just announced in KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS' official release, in mid-June this year we suddenly received notice from SIE that the "PHYSINT" project currently in development would be cancelled. PHYSINT is a project that matters deeply to both myself and KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS, and for the past three months we have been searching relentlessly for a "new partner" so we could carry on with it no matter what. After consulting with people from many different fields and advancing negotiations, we have decided to team up once again with XBOX, a partner who shares our "vision for the future." Please don't worry — development of PHYSINT, the next-generation "espionage action" title, is continuing.
Hell yeah
Fine by me if it's coming to Xbox
Don't need that garbage PlayStation ("kuso sute" — derogatory slang for PS)
So this was said right around when they announced the disc discontinuation?
Makes you wonder what Sony's 'vision for the future' even is
Guess it wasn't good news after all, lol
Yeah, this is gonna blow up big time lol
Combined with the disc discontinuation news, there's no putting this fire out lol
So that gut feeling turned out to be right again
Guess it's not coming to PlayStation then
Though at least I wish Konami had let him finish the game before cutting him off
From what I recall, Kojima himself wasn't even that motivated at first, and only got moving after fans worldwide kept demanding a spy game from him — this was a project born out of demand.
It's strange that they'd throw away the chance to release it as an exclusive or timed exclusive.
Maybe it's a case of: they'll fund a full exclusive, but not a multiplatform release with PC/other consoles or a mere timed exclusive.
Maybe they demanded an insane amount of money &
development basically hadn't progressed at all?
Wasn't this announced like two and a half years ago?
Death Stranding 1 sold well, but I think Death Stranding 2 was underwhelming
Though it could still pick up sales later through discounts and the like
Probably figured there was no return on the investment and it'd be the same story again, so they decided they couldn't keep dealing with it and cut them loose
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HR0rPeRWEAM_YA3.jpg
Because their foundation is way more stable
Before Totoki (Hiroki Totoki, Sony Group's President/COO) stepped in to cut costs, profit margins had dropped to single digits and they were nearly in the red, so it makes sense they're being strict now
Background and key points of this story
PHYSINT is a new spy-action title that KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS announced in partnership with SIE, and it had been anticipated as the studio’s first original blockbuster since going independent. What stands out this time is that the announcement came from PlayStation Studios’ side, prompting questions on the thread like “if they were going to cut ties, why partner up in the first place?” According to Kojima’s own posts, the cancellation notice arrived in June this year, meaning the search for a new partner was already underway during the three months before the news went public. Multiple factors are being speculated on — sluggish sales, production costs, and differing stances on discontinuing physical discs among them — but neither SIE nor KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS has stated the specific reason behind the split. Some have pointed out parallels to Kojima’s earlier split from Konami, and the episode is being read by some as a sign of shifting dynamics between major publishers and creators.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “PlayStation: “After careful consideration, we’ve decided to step back from our collaboration with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on the PHYSINT project”“.
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