Recently, PlayStation officially announced the termination of its collaboration with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on the project PHYSINT. In their statement, PlayStation said they had "made the difficult decision to withdraw from collaboration with game director Hideo Kojima on this project after careful consideration," while emphasizing their "great respect" for the director's vision and stating that both parties maintain a "close relationship" after thirty years of cooperation.
However, almost simultaneously, Hideo Kojima himself released a detailed statement that completely changed the narrative. According to the creator of Death Stranding and Metal Gear, his studio suddenly received notification from PlayStation Studios in mid-June 2026 that they would be canceling the PHYSINT project. Kojima pointed out that PHYSINT was an important project for both him personally and his studio, so the team actively sought new partners over the following three months. Ultimately, they chose Xbox.
Hideo Kojima wrote in his statement: "In mid-June this year, we unexpectedly received notification from PlayStation Studios that they would be canceling the PHYSINT project. PHYSINT is an important project for both me and KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS. We were determined to keep this project alive and tirelessly searched for new partners over the past three months. After consulting and negotiating with individuals from various fields, we found a partner at Xbox who shares our vision for the future and decided to join forces once again. Rest assured, development of PHYSINT—our signature spy-action game—is ongoing and will continue."
In PlayStation's statement, the split with Kojima was described as a mutual decision. However, according to Hideo Kojima, Sony actually unilaterally refused to continue funding and halted the project, forcing the studio to seek a new publisher afterward. PlayStation's statement on social media has been flagged with a "Community Note"—a feature on social networks that allows regular users to add context and rebuttals to potentially inaccurate posts, along with source links.
Notably, just hours after Xbox confirmed it would take over publishing the game, Shuhei Yoshida posted a brief message on the social platform X, essentially saying: "Wow, I'm shocked..." Later, when someone directly asked him about Physint, the industry veteran confirmed that this was what he was referring to.
Considering Shuhei Yoshida's career history, his reaction is particularly noteworthy. He joined the original PlayStation team in 1993, worked at Sony Interactive Entertainment for 31 years, held key positions such as President of Worldwide Studios, and later oversaw the independent games business.
What are your thoughts on this? Why do you think Sony betrayed Hideo Kojima? Feel free to discuss in the comments section.