The video game world is still trying to recover from Sony’s bombshell decision to part ways with Hideo Kojima, giving XBOX a chance to save the day. A New report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier gives us new details on why Sony made that decision.
According to Bloomberg’s report, Sony decided to no longer be a part of Kojima’s spiritual successor to Metal Gear, PHYSINT, due to the ambitious project’s budget ballooning, Kojima and his team missing deadlines, and other factors playing into PlayStation effectively telling one of the greatest video game makers of all time, “we good.”
In the report shared on September 11, people close to the situation also said Death Stranding and its sequel’s commercial performance played a role in PlayStation’s decision. According to the website, both games did not meet PlayStation’s revenue expectations.
Add that PHYSINT, still years away from completion, missed deadlines and went over budget, making PlayStation’s decision, while wildly unpopular, an easy one for the company.
There was also the point that PHYSINT would be a timed exclusive like Death Stranding, so PlayStation saw it as a very expensive investment that wouldn’t be exclusive to its console.
More reporting reveals that people at PlayStation who had a close relationship with Kojima are no longer at the company.
Per Kotaku:
For many, the news came as a surprise. Kojima and PlayStation have had a long relationship, with the Metal Gear Solid franchise calling the console its main home for decades. And when Kojima and MGS publisher Konami parted ways in a messy, public split in 2015, it was PlayStation that swooped in to provide the famous game designer with funding for his next game, which would end up being Death Stranding. But Bloomberg reports that many of the PlayStation executives who had developed a close relationship with Kojima over the years are no longer at the company. Seemingly, those who remain don’t see investing in Kojima’s next big game as a valuable move.
XBOX Saw An Opportunity By Scooping Up Kojima & PHYSINT
XBOX already had a working relationship with Hideo Kojima and his Kojima Productions thanks to the upcoming horror game OD. Still, with Sony passing on PHYSINT, current XBOX chief Asha Sharma and her company saw an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.
“Betting on Kojima-san is an easy call,” an Xbox spokesperson said to Bloomberg. “We believe in his team’s ability to build AAA games with groundbreaking, new IP, and we believe in OD, Physint, and our growing partnership.”
Well, we hope XBOX can afford to foot the Kojima bill without having to lay off more employees or shut down other game studios.
We shall see.
You can see more reactions to these latest developments in the Sony/Kojima/XBOX saga below.
