Kojima Keeps Faith With Sony After Physint Funding Pull

Hideo Kojima said he continues to respect Sony after the company unexpectedly withdrew funding for his new project, Physint. Xbox is now the game’s publisher and will determine which platforms it will release on. Kojima Productions described its finances as being in a “healthy, profitable state.”

Kojima said he was blindsided by Sony’s decision and does not know who inside the company made the call. He acknowledged wider challenges across the games industry and noted the situation left him unsure of immediate next steps, but he stressed he holds no personal grudge against Sony or its staff.

He added: “Nothing could’ve prepared me for their decision to step away from the project. So I thought, ‘What am I going to do from tomorrow?’ But from my side, I love Sony. And I don’t have any bad feelings against them because I know that it’s a tough time in the game industry.”

Kojima rejected suggestions that Death Stranding’s commercial performance prompted Sony’s withdrawal. Kojima Productions issued a statement repeating that the studio is in a “healthy, profitable state,” and contested reports linking Death Stranding sales to the change in publisher.

He recalled a roughly 30-year working relationship with Sony and referenced former executives Ken Kutaragi and Kazuo Hirai, noting the partnership is different now. He observed, “I’ve been working with them for like 30 years… Mr. Ken Kutaragi, Mr. Hirai, I was close with them. But it’s not like that recently. I realized that, okay, this is the reality.”

Physint’s switch to Xbox marks a change in publishing partners for Kojima, who founded Kojima Productions after a long run on the Metal Gear series and the release of Death Stranding. Kojima declined to identify who at Sony withdrew support and framed the situation as part of broader industry pressures. He added he remains focused on his studio’s work while Xbox sets the platform plans for Physint.