Hideo Kojima Reveals Details About the Split With Sony

Hideo Kojima gave his first personal interview since his upcoming project PHYSINT moved from PlayStation to Xbox, and for the first time shared details of exactly how Sony informed him about the split. In the interview, he recounted word for word what the company's representatives told him, as well as the emotions he felt during that period.

As a reminder, a few weeks ago Hideo Kojima officially announced PHYSINT's move from PlayStation to Xbox, citing a lack of funding. Since then, he hadn't shared any details about the situation, but recently he finally gave an interview.

According to Kojima, in June Sony asked him to join a Zoom call. At the time, he was simultaneously working on two projects: the horror title OD for Xbox and the espionage game PHYSINT for PlayStation. What Kojima ended up hearing knocked him off balance.

They said they could no longer fund the development of PHYSINT. I was shocked and couldn't process what I'd heard. Of course, I know there's a lot of news in the game industry right now about studios closing and projects being canceled, and I understand the overall situation in the industry. But I thought PHYSINT was fine. That PHYSINT was safe. So I was surprised. But not just surprised — we didn't understand the reason for it.

After the call, Kojima kept the news from his own staff for a while, worried about the studio's future. He admitted he genuinely thought through a scenario in which Kojima Productions could collapse: having to let the PHYSINT team go, or people leaving on their own; what the bank, whose loans had helped the studio expand after Death Stranding's release, would think; what to do about the actors who had already been scanned for the game.

Despite the shock he went through, Kojima stressed that he holds no grudge against the company he worked with for three decades, and that he still uses Sony's tech.

I love Sony. I have no bad feelings toward them, because I know it's a tough time for the game industry right now. I've always been a huge Sony fan. I use a Walkman. All my cameras are Sony

The interview came against the backdrop of Bloomberg's earlier report citing budget overruns and weak Death Stranding sales as possible reasons behind Sony's decision. However, Kojima Productions later officially denied this version, calling the outlet's sources unconfirmed. PHYSINT's development is now continuing under Xbox, and the game recently landed a confirmed lead actor — Bill Skarsgård.