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The story
Game creator Hideo Kojima described the circumstances under which Sony informed him it was cancelling “PHYSINT,” the new title being developed by Kojima Productions, saying “Today’s SONY isn’t the SONY of the days when Kutaragi-san and Hirai-san were there.” The interview blew up on 5ch after he revealed that Sony gave no explanation whatsoever for the cancellation. The thread’s discussion spread beyond that to the shifting nature of the long-standing partnership, and to how the developers behind Stellar Blade and Helldivers 2 have also been moving to distance themselves from Sony.
What people said
But I thought 'PHYSINT' would be fine. I thought 'PHYSINT' was safe. So I was shocked.
But it wasn't just shock. I was never told a concrete reason. There was no anger, no sadness.
It's the opposite
After 30 years is when you're supposed to feel secure
That's normal
Wait, what?
Did they stop covering your hostess-club tab?
Give an otaku money and they get carried away doing all sorts of things lol. Like that Square Enix thing, or the guy who came to 5ch to brag about eating steak on an overseas trip by posting photos (photos that were never released officially).
Going by contract order, it was obvious OD [Kojima's next project] was getting Sony's next full push, and Shitny [クソニー — a mocking pun combining "shit" and "Sony"] couldn't stand that.
Sounds like they tried to buy the studio out, partly to kill OD, got turned down, and blew a gasket.
The article itself says it's split into two projects.
PlayStation fanboys are basically a 'religion' at this point
More like: stop worshipping me and showering me with money, and suddenly you're the enemy — that's what's happening here
Once you become the one paying, the relationship changes
Acting like a movie director, throwing money at actors left and right, and the game never gets finished lol lol
Kutaragi didn't even pay to help launch TGS [Tokyo Game Show]
And to think Sony's been using 'gratitude' as a weapon to keep everyone in line all this time lol
Well, dragging old man Kutaragi back out to make him answer for killing PlayStation isn't a bad idea
He really is the one to blame [戦犯, lit. "war criminal," net slang for "the culprit"]
He can't just whip up a miracle hit with China like Palworld did
— You said Sony never explained the reason for the cancellation. Was there any explanation afterward?
No, none at all. They haven't contacted me even once since then.
Oh man
That's the worst possible look
What are the PlayStation faithful gonna do about this
Explaining it would just make things worse, so of course they wouldn't
I think SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment] is pretty out of control right now
And you'd figure they're paying a hefty penalty fee for that too
But thinking about it calmly, it's probably the right call
It's less 'out of control' and more like they're just doing whatever headquarters tells them lol
Polyphony's not exactly safe from this either
They're sitting comfortably thinking 'we're old allies,' but they'll probably be next
Polyphony's an independently-financed satellite company, so Sony can't just cut them loose
It's been a while since GT7 came out — wonder what Polyphony's actually doing
There probably haven't been any major updates, so are they just endlessly re-modeling cars?
They've surely been recording in 4K for ages already, there's no 8K era coming anytime soon, and there's no need to polish things any further than they already have
There's clearly a trend of studios trying to put distance between themselves and Sony, so there must be plenty they're fed up with
Helldivers 2 went through hell over that account-linking mess
No wonder they want to get away from Sony
Is he trying to cozy up to Nintendo?
Background and Points of Contention
Kojima Productions, led by Hideo Kojima, has a capital and business partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and has developed titles such as the “Death Stranding” series for PlayStation. “PHYSINT” was a new title the studio had announced, and these remarks appear to come from an interview about its cancellation. Ken Kutaragi (the father of the original PlayStation) and Kazuo Hirai (Sony’s president during the PS4 era) were past leaders known for generously supporting development studios, and Kojima’s comment reads as a contrast with that era. The thread was split over whether to view this as “a shift in Sony’s overall policy” or “a decision specific to one project,” with some pointing to the moves by the developers of Stellar Blade and Helldivers 2 as related — though it should be noted that no official connection has been confirmed, and these remain speculation.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Hideo Kojima: “Today’s SONY Isn’t the SONY of the Kutaragi and Hirai Days”.”
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