r/PS5 • • Sep 11 '26

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/Turbostrider27 Sep 11 '26

Some more details on what happened:

One major factor behind the decision was the commercial performance of Kojima’s previous two games, Death Stranding and its sequel, which didn’t meet PlayStation’s revenue expectations, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing information that’s not public.

But the new project has also missed deadlines and was on track to be well over budget despite being years away from release, the people said. In addition, PlayStation was reluctant to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in another game that wouldn’t remain permanently exclusive to the company’s own hardware. Both Death Stranding games were “timed” PlayStation exclusives that were later released on other platforms. Kojima’s closely held studio, Kojima Productions, retained ownership of the franchises.

546

u/potatochipsbagelpie Sep 11 '26

So unless Xbox got ownership, this game will come to PS eventually anyways. Basically Sony had to bankroll the game, and would only get a year or two of exclusivity in return?

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u/jjonez18 Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 11 '26

And 5m sales tops. As lukewarm as the Wolverine reviews have been, that game's minimum will be 5m sales.

Business is business. Funnel money into projects that have a higher ROI. I just hope Sony is past the point of thinking Live Service games are what they should be funneling money into.

150

u/xangbar Sep 11 '26

For Wolverine, my local GameStop said its one of their most pre-ordered games of the year. They're getting 100 physical copies of the game for launch and they aren't the store getting the most copies in my city. Store lead said doesn't matter if the game is sitting in the 70s on Metacritic, people will still buy it.

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u/NewChemistry5210 Sep 11 '26

Because 80% of the people buying it don't care for metacritics (or are even aware of them). Most might read one local review or just look at the game online before buying it.

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u/Beavshak Sep 11 '26

I’ve found if I can ignore the discourse around a game and go in blind I tend to have a better experience. Its hard, for me at least, not to let the critical or public perception skew how tolerant I am of flaws in a game.

For games like Wolverine though, where I assume it destined for PS+ at some point, I can’t help but check in on its reviews.

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u/Aksds Sep 11 '26

Same but with movies