Sony dropped Physint over budget concerns and exclusivity disputes, report claims

Hideo Kojima

A new Bloomberg report has revealed why Sony cancelled its partnership with Kojima Productions on Physint, the studio's upcoming action espionage game — and Xbox has since stepped in to publish it.

The details:

According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Sony pulled out of Physint due to concerns over "budget, potential profitability and exclusivity." The game had reportedly missed deadlines and was on track to be "well over budget despite being years away from release."
A key factor was the commercial performance of Kojima Productions' previous titles — Death Stranding and its sequel both failed to meet PlayStation's revenue expectations, making Sony reluctant to greenlight another high-budget project from the studio.
Exclusivity was also a sticking point. Both Death Stranding games launched as timed PlayStation exclusives before coming to PC, and Sony — which recently announced it will stop releasing single-player games on PC — was unwilling to fund a game that would eventually leave its platform.
Xbox has now taken over as publisher, with the deal also covering film and TV rights for both Physint and OD, Kojima's experimental horror game already in development with Microsoft. Xbox plans to release Physint on PC and Xbox.
Sony and Kojima Productions have both said their relationship remains one of "mutual respect."

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