Sony pulling the trigger on Kojima's next title was unexpected.
Kojima took the call in mid-June over Zoom, PlayStation Studios told them they will stop funding Physint.
"My mind went blank," he stated. He doesn't remember much of what was said.
He stated "We couldn't understand it, this is the biggest selling title I could possibly create. I didn't think Physint would be on the list of being cancelled. Jim Ryan had already retired, but I thought this was a project that Sony Interactive Entertainment and I had agreed to team up on and make together."
Kojima also stated that Sony hasn't contacted him since.
Why it nearly sank the studio
Kojima Productions is an indie studio and signs contracts project by project. Lose a publisher and there's nothing underneath.
"We're an independent studio. That means if they can't fund us, our studio could collapse," Kojima said, describing it as "a sinking boat, almost,".
He stated "If my studio closes as well, that's all the more reason for people to not go to independent studios anymore. I wanted to stand firm for indies, so I needed to find a new partner."
Xbox, agreed to it. Surprisingle, no layoffs followed. Most staff moved to OD while a small team continued on Physint. The wider studio was told the day before the public announcement on 9 September.
The P.T. line
According to these reports, Physint's plot, concept and storyboards are complete, the studio has begun scanning actors including Bill Skarsgård, and collaborators were already signed up.
"I can't tell them this is cancelled, especially after what we went through with P.T. I didn't want to go back and do it again and say to the actors this is cancelled."
Two versions of why
Some reports stated Physint had missed deadlines and was heading well over budget despite being years from release, and that both Death Stranding games underperformed on revenue expectations.
Kojima Productions on the other hand "None of the claims written came from any official or on-the-record source and as such we encourage you to take them with a dose of scepticism."
Kojima insists there's no feud. "Corporations are like living things. We're not in a dispute. We're not fighting with them."
What Xbox brings
Microsoft has opened up considerable technical support, which he described as "so many Doc Browns from Back to the Future here." He also wants a live-action Physint film, and Xbox shares that ambition.
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