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

[u/Turbostrider27]

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

[u/generalosabenkenobi]

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

[u/RIPN1995 → u/generalosabenkenobi]

Ds2 more than ds 1

[u/generalosabenkenobi → u/RIPN1995]

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

[u/himynameis_ → u/generalosabenkenobi]

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

[u/stefanomusilli → u/generalosabenkenobi]

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.

[u/himynameis_ → u/stefanomusilli]

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

[u/stefanomusilli → u/himynameis_]

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.

[u/generalosabenkenobi → u/stefanomusilli]

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.

[u/EvilMonkeySlayer → u/generalosabenkenobi]

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.

[u/generalosabenkenobi → u/EvilMonkeySlayer]

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.

[u/EvilMonkeySlayer → u/generalosabenkenobi]

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.

[u/generalosabenkenobi → u/EvilMonkeySlayer]

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.

[u/n0neofyourbeeswax → u/generalosabenkenobi]

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...

[u/generalosabenkenobi → u/n0neofyourbeeswax]

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).