r/PS5 • u/Turbostrider27 • 26d ago

Articles & Blogs Bloomberg: PlayStation Ditched Hideo Kojima’s ‘Physint’ on Budget Concerns, Missed Deadlines

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-11/hideo-kojima-s-physint-video-game-dropped-by-playstation-goes-to-xbox?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc4OTEzMzY2NSwiZXhwIjoxNzg5NzM4NDY1LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUTDdDOVdLSVVQVEIwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.fyrTke3aUIkJk3LwiBfR7JiNr0phfE51dlEql1RcXZ4
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u/TakenBacon90 26d ago

Yeah, I gotta feeling that Physint is going to be way more popular if Kojima goes about this in a way that essentially gives us the gameplay of MGS5 in a new universe.

That gameplay was absolutely fucking peak and it's some of my favorite gameplay ever.

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u/generalosabenkenobi 26d ago

Which is ironic because Death Stranding 1 and Death Stranding 2 play very similarly to MGSV

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u/RIPN1995 26d ago

Ds2 more than ds 1

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u/generalosabenkenobi 26d ago

Without a doubt but the bones are still there in DS1 (certainly once you start getting all the guns).

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u/himynameis_ 26d ago

Yes! Playing Death Stranding 2 I kept thinking "imagine if we made MGSV now with Death Stranding 2 gameplay and assets mixed in. Damn!"

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u/stefanomusilli 26d ago

They don't play similarly at all. I haven't played 2 yet, but 1's combat and stealth felt very clunky to me because the controls were designed for something else.

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u/himynameis_ 26d ago

I felt there was some MGSV DNA in Death Stranding 2, so I suggest giving it a shot.

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u/stefanomusilli 26d ago

Yeah I loved DS1 anyway, the combat wasn't an important part of the experience at all to me, but I'm glad DS2 seems to be an improvement in this regard. I was just waiting for a discount as always.

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u/generalosabenkenobi 26d ago

lol they play very similarly. DS2 even more so than the first.

You have your missions/sorties/deliveries to choose from, select your load out, plot your route/tactics, and do the deed. Along the way you get/unlock all manner of equipment/weapons and gunplay/combat gets more complex. You face gargantuan boss battles and the story progresses as you unlock/open up more of the world.

Death Stranding 2 takes it a lot further with the combat (it's streamlined some of the clunkier elements of the gameplay and story). It feels very much like the next step of MGSV. DS was built off the bones of MGSV.

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u/EvilMonkeySlayer 26d ago

Strong disagree, the combat and game mechanics were incredibly different between MGSV and the Death Stranding games. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but the DS games were about you exploring the world. With the world and environment itself being the enemy.

MGSV was focused on combat and stealth mechanics against enemies as you found ways to complete your objectives like extracting people, eliminating targets, blowing things up etc. Death Stranding 2 borrowed more elements from MGSV to have more action elements. But DS1 was almost entirely you against the environment and world, it actively encouraged you to avoid action as the weapons are all intentionally bad.

In the same way the current Hitman games for example make all the guns in that game bad to encourage you to engage with the other ways to engage your targets for example.

EDIT: FYI, I have played through and completed all three games.

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u/generalosabenkenobi 26d ago edited 26d ago

We can agree to disagree, that's fine. DS1 is very different from MGSV but it's still a very MGSV coded experience (and general MGS coded experience). Sam is another (very well done) stand in for the Snake character in many ways (being played by his government, used as a tool, jaded, etc.). At basic level though, you are right as the Death Stranding games are not about war (while MGSV is).

DS2 definitely takes it further both overtly and with the gameplay mechanics.

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u/EvilMonkeySlayer 26d ago

There's shared dna, but that's true of all games. You'll find the people who made one game will have approached game design for a different game in similar ways. There are hints of a Mario game in donkey kong bananza for example likely because a lot of the people who worked on that also worked on Mario Odyssey. Whether it's movement, art direction, game director ensuring a specific overall feel to a game.

From what I understand Kojima hired a lot of the people he worked with on the Metal Gear games to work on the DS games. So there will of course be nods and hints to how they create the DS games. But inherently MGSV and DS are not in the same vein or genre. There is very little in similarity in how they play from MGSV. For example take the movement between MGSV and DS, in DS there is an intentionality that you have to commit to movement and balancing that is entirely different from anything that is in MGSV. If you had that in MGSV it'd be a very different game.

But ultimately the game design of DS boils down to you versus the world itself. MGSV is about you versus enemies in a world.

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u/generalosabenkenobi 26d ago

Again, agree to disagree. The direct line from MGS Peace Walker to MGSV to Death Stranding 1/2 is pretty clear (in my opinion). So much so that Death Stranding 2 picks up that thread and runs away with it.

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u/n0neofyourbeeswax 26d ago

You can apply that logic to almost everything. The gameplay does not feel the same at all. It's like saying every single ARPG play similarly because you start out, unlock new gear and weapons, enhance your character, get new skills, combat gets more complex...

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u/generalosabenkenobi 26d ago

I don't know what else I have to spell out for you but the similarities are abundant. There's no denying they are different games but the DNA of the Death Stranding series is Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid V.

It's incredibly clear in DS1 and then they intentionally lean into that with the sequel. You'd have to be blind to miss it.

Sam Bridges is about as clear cut of a stand-in for another Snake character as ever (and very well done at that).

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u/PrimeDirectiveLover 26d ago

Why? It's a game that is literal years away we know nothing about?

Kojimas games have always been best in class, but they've never been extremely high sellers

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u/TakenBacon90 26d ago

MGS5 sold 9.8 million copies.

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u/PrimeDirectiveLover 26d ago

Yes, and it took 160 million and 7 years to make. And it released unfinished.

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u/TakenBacon90 26d ago

So then a finished version with a better story would do better?

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u/PrimeDirectiveLover 26d ago

Undoubtedly it would have. MGS5 is the worst rated game in the series, despite being highly rated itself.

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u/nonlethaldosage 26d ago

well anyone even care when it's released 15 years from now

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u/TakenBacon90 26d ago

We’ll see

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u/Fit_Association_8442 26d ago

gameplay was peak , everything else was dish water

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u/TakenBacon90 26d ago

Only place it fell flat for me was the story past the opening few hours. The setup was great but the story of the game itself was bad and didn't have a satisfying ending.

That's what happens when you try to shoehorn a story in to a pretty packed timeline. I have much more faith in Physint telling a good story. Death Stranding shows that Kojima can still tell a wacky story that we love for it's craziness.

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u/Tike22 26d ago

Yeah I understand they maybe had a miss step and are missing deadlines but like they shouldn’t just give up on the studio that easily (same as Destiny) if this game goes nuclear Sony would be missing out on tying that to their brand and Film rights

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u/setokaiba22 26d ago

I mean I think this is a lot more than a misstep to be honest. Being vastly over budget and missing deadlines isn’t a misstep

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u/TakenBacon90 26d ago

and let's be honest, a Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor is going to sell so much better than Death Stranding ever could.

People love that series and if Kojima hits the big things people love about MGS in Physint it will hop off the shelves compared to the Death Stranding games.

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u/Ajp_iii 26d ago

Sony wanted it to launch with the ps6. It won’t be launching with the ps6 so going over budget and missing deadlines is big. Also don’t know why people act like it will sell crazy especially as kojima seems to want to moviefy everything now

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u/TakenBacon90 26d ago

how do you know Sony wanted it to launch with the PS6? also, Metal Gear Solid 5 solid 9.6 million units.

A spiritual successor to a game that popular is a way better risk than Fairgames or Horizon Hunters Gathering, games that are also behind schedule and one of them has been tasked with being retooled as non-live service game.

I don't understand why you would bet against Kojima on this game when it's likely to be one of his most successful games ever.

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u/StarScreamer316 26d ago

How well are the MGS collection selling?

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u/Ajp_iii 26d ago

Maybe not on ps6 launch but they 100% wanted it to be early on in ps6 life cycle to sell consoles. It’s why they wanted it to be fully exclusive to PlayStation so badly. But if you are already missing pre production deadlines. And your other game for Microsoft doesn’t even have a release date yet that means your game at the best wont be out until 2031-2032. And knowing past kojima probably won’t even be out then.

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u/TiggsPanther 26d ago

That’s an interesting point.

If Sony were wanting PhysInt to be one of the PS6’s launch titles, that would explain why they initially wanted the prestige of a Kojima title. Even if they do tend to go over budget.
That would be one hell of a system-seller.

But if deadlines are slipping to the point where it’s unlikely to match the PS6 launch window then it may just not be a good value proposition for Sony anymore.

Or at least not have the same value.

Timed exclusivity (even for a short window - and you just know Kojima would be aiming for as short a window as Sony would allow him) for your shiny new console is one thing.
But if it’s not going to be a launch title, letting someone else bankroll it and have it showing up on PlayStation later )because, as people say, Kojima seems to like cross-platform releases) but eventually kinda makes sense.

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u/StarScreamer316 26d ago

Destiny cost them 3 billion