Microsoft's Xbox will publish Physint, the upcoming action-espionage game from renowned director Hideo Kojima, after PlayStation Studios canceled the project earlier this year. The announcement marks a major shift for a title that was originally backed by Sony and positions Xbox as the home of a game widely described as a spiritual successor to Kojima's Metal Gear Solid series.
Kojima said the decision followed an unexpected notice from PlayStation Studios in mid-June. «As confirmed earlier through our official channels, in mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the PHYSINT project,» Kojima posted on X. «PHYSINT is an important project both to me personally and to KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS. Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner.»
The search led Kojima Productions back to Xbox, which already publishes Kojima's horror game OD. «In the course of seeking advice and pursuing negotiations with people across many fields, we found in XBOX a partner with whom we share a common vision for the future, and we have decided to team up with them once again,» Kojima said. «Please rest assured that development of PHYSINT, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward.»
The partnership will expand beyond the two games to include film and television projects. «This expands our relationship with XBOX beyond OD. As we move forward with the development of PHYSINT, we remain committed to redefining the action-espionage genre for players around the world,» Kojima said.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who took over from the retiring Phil Spencer earlier this year, has made Kojima a priority as she works to reset and rebuild Xbox. Her strategy includes a return to console exclusives, beginning with Gears of War: E-Day this year and continuing with Clockwork Revolution in 2027. «Creators have choices about where and how they bring their ideas to life,» Sharma said. «We're honored that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox to work with Kojima Productions on Physint. His ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at Xbox.»
PlayStation issued its own statement confirming the split. «After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on its project PHYSINT. We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima's vision for the game. Our relationship remains strong after three decades of industry-leading, genre-defining creative cooperation, and we look forward to continued close collaboration with Hideo Kojima and his award-winning independent studio in the future.»
Physint was announced during the 2024 State of Play broadcast, where PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst appeared alongside Kojima and pledged full support. The presentation ended with a Columbia Pictures sign, a Sony Group subsidiary, displayed beneath the game's title. The move to Xbox represents a significant public relations win for Microsoft, which has effectively taken a major Kojima project away from Sony. The last comparable shift at the AAA level was Final Fantasy's move from Nintendo to PlayStation during the original PlayStation era.
Physint remains a working title, and details about the game are still scarce. Kojima has described it as both an interactive game and a movie. «It is a completely new 'Action Espionage' for the next-generation. It will be created using cutting-edge technology and the best talents from around the world, both from film and video games,» he said when the project was announced. «Of course this is an interactive 'game,' but the look, story, theme, cast, acting, fashion, sound, etc... are all at the next level of 'Digital Entertainment' that could be called a 'movie.'»
Development is still in its early stages. Kojima said last year that Physint was likely five to six years away. In September 2025, during a Kojima Productions 10th Anniversary event in Japan, he said work was just starting and that he was developing concepts alone, creating characters, and thinking about casting. The technology behind Physint was described as more advanced than that used in Death Stranding and OD. Kojima has confirmed three actors for the game, including Charlee Fraser, who played Mary Jabassa in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. OD will be released before Physint.