Physint Moves to Xbox After PlayStation Cancellation

Hideo Kojima’s Physint just changed publishers in dramatic fashion. Kojima Productions announced today that Xbox Game Studios will publish the action-espionage game, months after Sony Interactive Entertainment unexpectedly canceled the project in mid-June 2026. It’s a stunning reversal for a game originally unveiled as PlayStation’s next major Kojima collaboration following Death Stranding.

Physint, a working title combining “physical” and “intelligence,” was first revealed at a PlayStation State of Play in January 2024. It was positioned as Kojima’s return to the action-espionage genre he helped define with Metal Gear, and the third project between Kojima and Sony after Death Stranding and Death Stranding 2.

Physint – What We Know

According to Kojima, PlayStation Studios reached out in mid-June 2026 to inform Kojima Productions the project was being canceled, a decision he described as unexpected. Neither company has given a specific public reason for the cancellation. Kojima said his studio then spent roughly three months determining the best path forward before landing on Xbox Game Studios as the new publisher.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed the deal directly, saying, “We’re honored that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox to work with Kojima Productions on ‘Physint.'” Kojima’s own statement framed the move as building on an existing relationship, noting it “expands our relationship with Xbox beyond ‘OD,'” the horror game Kojima Productions is separately developing with Xbox and filmmaker Jordan Peele.

No platform details have been confirmed for Physint under its new publisher. The game had been widely reported as a PlayStation 6 title during its Sony-published era, but with Xbox now attached, exactly where and how it will release remains unclear. The announcement also comes alongside a broader expansion of the Kojima-Xbox relationship into film and television projects, not just games.

Physint remains in early development regardless of the publisher change. As of an August 2025 interview, Kojima said he was still the only person actively working on the project, with a May 2025 interview suggesting the game would need at least five to six more years of work before completion. Three cast members have been confirmed so far, Charlee Fraser, Don Lee, and Minami Hamabe, with Mari Ueda serving as casting director under the internal casting codename “Project Shimmer.” Kojima has teased additional casting announcements are still to come.

The cancellation and publisher switch also arrive amid broader industry discourse around PlayStation’s July 2026 announcement that it will stop producing physical discs for new games starting in 2028, adding extra context to a moment where Sony is already facing scrutiny over its platform strategy.

What This Means for Kojima Fans

Losing a flagship platform holder mid-development and finding a new publisher within roughly three months is a remarkably fast turnaround for a project of this scale, and it says something about how much value Xbox places on maintaining its relationship with one of gaming’s most recognizable auteur developers. Rather than treating this as a loss, Xbox has effectively doubled down, now backing two separate Kojima Productions games alongside expanded film and TV ambitions.

For players, the platform question is the most immediate unknown. If the game follows the same path as other Xbox-published titles from prominent Japanese-adjacent studios, a PC release alongside Xbox consoles seems likely, though nothing has been confirmed. Given its early conceptual stage, there’s also time for Xbox and Kojima Productions to make platform decisions without immediate pressure.

What’s Next

With Xbox now attached as publisher, expect further details on platforms, timeline, and additional cast announcements to emerge gradually rather than all at once, consistent with how Kojima Productions has handled information around this project since its 2024 reveal. OD remains the studio’s more immediate priority, so significant new details may still be a way off.

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