Kojima Productions Issues Statement Amid Speculation on Physint's Publisher Change
On Sunday, Kojima Productions issued a statement regarding rumors, speculations, and allegations surrounding the recent announcement of the switch in publisher from Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) to Microsoft's Xbox Game Studio for its in-production game Physint:
Normally, we would not comment on unsubstantiated speculation on the internet, but these aspersions around our relationship with PlayStation, the commercial performance of the DEATH STRANDING franchise, and the broader production planning and investment for PHYSINT, have reached beyond the studio and have touched our fans, our creative partners, and colleagues we have worked alongside with for three decades.
None of the claims written came from any official or on-the-record source and as such we encourage you to take them with a dose of scepticism.
Kojima Productions ends the statement by writing, “While we recognise that the article may have caused alarm, we want to reassure you all, for the record: that the studio is in a healthy, profitable state, development for PHYSINT continues to move forward with XBOX, and our relationship with PlayStation remains strong.”
SIE announced on September 10 that it will no longer publish Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions' action espionage game Physint. Later that same day, Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios announced it would take over publishing for the game. Kojima further elaborated that he received a notice in mid-June from SIE that the video game and digital entertainment company was canceling its release of Physint. Kojima added that he and his game studio spent the “last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner” for Physint, eventually landing on Xbox Game Studios.
American news outlet Bloomberg posted in an article on September 11 that those close to the project said SIE canceled Physint over concerns of “budget, potential profitability and exclusivity.” The anonymous sources told Bloomberg, “One major factor behind the decision was the commercial performance of Kojima's previous two games […] which didn't meet PlayStation's revenue expectations." The article added that the sources said Physint had missed deadlines, was “on track to be well over budget despite being years away from release,” and PlayStation was hesitant to invest “hundreds of millions of dollars in another game that wouldn't remain permanently exclusive to [SIE's] own hardware.”
As of press time, Kojima Productions has not released any further statements on the matter.
Sources: Kojima Productions' X/Twitter account, Hido Kojima's English X/Twitter account, Bloomberg via Kotaku
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