With Hideo Kojima in the warm embrace of Asha Sharma, work on PHYSINT is in full swing, but the public still has questions, which the game designer tried to answer in interviews with IGN and The Washington Post.
Sony notified Genius of its decision to abandon the studio via a Zoom call in mid-June (at a time when the industry’s hopes and support were very busy: he had just returned from a Prada event in New York and later visited Los Angeles), which made him worried about the future of Kojima Productions: the studio’s Tokyo office is opposite the “Blues” headquarters, where nearly 200 employees work. Out of respect for the company, the captain declined to name the person who informed him of the project’s cancellation. After that, Sony never contacted him again. Thinking of this, Xiaodao immediately adjusted his emotions.
We are an independent studio. This means that if we don’t get financing, the studio may close.
Hideo Kojima, genius
When they told me this, everything flew from my mind. What surprised me the most was Hideo’s subsequent performance. He went back to his room and started working.
Shinji Hirano President of Kojima Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
According to Kojima, Sony has had a three-decade relationship with him dating back to the days of Ken Kutaragi, but he didn’t say why he made the decision, which the industry legend hoped would “Listen early”. But Jim Ryan approved the development of PHYSINT, and Genius announced the news together with Hermen Hulst. At that time, Kojima Manufacturing Co., Ltd. had obtained a bank loan and began to recruit employees directly under PHYSINT. As a result, no one lost their job. Although reporting the situation to his subordinates was not easy for Kojima, it brought back memories of Silent Hill and PT.
The most important thing to me is the staff.
Hideo Kojima, genius
As it stands, work on the project has not stopped; the plot and concept have been worked out, including storyboards; the team has begun developing 3D models and scanning the actors’ appearances. Kojima is currently experimenting with various game engines (Guerrilla’s Decima is owned by Sony), but has yet to make a final decision.
The guru spoke with different publishers (he declined to specify which ones), but quickly settled on Microsoft due to existing OD partnerships. April, after leaving “friend” Phil Spencer, genius visits Redmond and meets Asha Sharma: “She was young, but we found a common language very quickly and I had a feeling she would be a promising CEO. That was my impression.”.
It wasn’t until September 8, the eve of the official announcement, that the entire studio team was informed of the new situation. But Kojima holds no grudge against Sony. But whether PHYSINT will be released on PlayStation (apparently already in its sixth generation) now depends on XBOX.
Companies are like living organisms. I still have a relationship with Sony. I use a Sony camera and still listen to a Walkman. We have no differences. We are not at odds with them.
Hideo Kojima, genius
A recent report from Bloomberg cited reasons for Sony’s breakup with Kojima: concerns over budget, deadlines, potential profitability, and lack of exclusivity on the PlayStation platform, not to mention weak sales of Death Stranding.
Kojima Productions doesn’t usually comment on publications like this, but here they released an official statement: “This article transcends the studio, impacting our fans, creative partners and colleagues who have worked alongside us for three decades.”.
Let us emphasize: this is a serious situation for the studio, fraught with many potentially significant consequences. We know this article may have caused concern for you, and we want to formally reassure everyone that the studio is financially stable and profitable, that PHYSINT development will continue to be in partnership with Xbox, and that our relationship with PlayStation remains strong.
kojima production co., ltd.
However, the final decision rests with Jason Schreier, who spoke to sources within XBOX, PlayStation, and Kojima Productions. Reporters don’t know if the discussion was about canceling the project, but it was preceded by discussions about missed deadlines and fundamental issues with game development. This goes against what Kojima said about surprises.
I saw a statement from Kojima Productions today, and it doesn’t refute anything we’ve reported, so I don’t have much to add here. But I will point out this: As I said a few weeks ago, the decision to cancel Physint came after months of negotiations between KoPro and Sony. This didn’t happen in a vacuum.
Jason Schreier
Well, what do you think about this mess? Share in the comments.
