Hideo Kojima Revealed New Details About Physint—Gameplay, Story, Characters, Cast, and More

Hideo Kojima's games, love them or find some of his design and gameplay choices questionable, can almost always be described as major events. No one doubts Physint, his next project, will follow that same pattern, especially since Kojima himself has called it the culmination of his entire career.

Officially, not much is known yet beyond it being a tactical spy-action game with stealth elements, widely seen as a spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid, the franchise Kojima himself created. Fortunately, the game designer himself shared some new details during an appearance on TBS Radio. Here's what stood out from that interview:

• Kojima described Physint as a spy-action game paying tribute to the early Metal Gear Solid titles while introducing fresh ideas and a new kind of interactive experience.
• The story, though not the full script, is already written, with filming set to begin next year.
• Bill Skarsgård, Charlee Fraser, and Minami Hamabe, all confirmed cast members, have already gone through body scanning. Other actors have also been cast, though details haven't been shared yet. Kojima mentioned that around 70% of the cast are fans of his works, including several A-list names, and to all of them, he personally pitched the project.
• Most of the characters' names have already been settled.
• Kojima claimed he approaches every game as if it were his last, and that Physint marks the 40th anniversary of his career in the industry.

PlayStation Studios was originally set to publish Physint but stepped back, reportedly over the project's massive budget. Xbox has since stepped in as publisher, with recent reports putting the budget around $200 million, roughly half of what Kojima Productions had originally sought from Sony.

Kojima's other upcoming project, OD, is also being published by Xbox. He's confirmed development is actively underway, and the cast has resumed motion capture work following a brief pause. Neither OD nor Physint has a release date yet, with both still fairly early in development.