Kojima Productions Shifts PHYSINT From PlayStation to Xbox Partnership
For a Kojima Productions title that PlayStation announced on its own State of Play stage, the publisher change puts the project under Xbox alongside OD and raises an open question about the Columbia Pictures tie-up mentioned at the original reveal, which sits inside the Sony Group.
Key Facts
- Kojima Productions announced on September 10, 2026 that PHYSINT will be published in partnership with Xbox, ending collaboration with PlayStation Studios.
- Hideo Kojima said Sony Interactive Entertainment notified him in mid-June 2026 that the in-production PHYSINT project would be canceled.
- Xbox division CEO Asha Sharma said Kojima's attitude of challenging conventional concepts is the kind of creativity Xbox wants to support.
- PHYSINT has no release date or price set, and announced cast includes Minami Hamabe, Don Lee, and Charlee Fraser.
- The Xbox partnership extends Kojima Productions' collaboration beyond OD, the new IP announced in 2023 with Xbox Game Studios.
Reporting from 7 sources: 4Gamer.net, GAME Watch (Impress), Cinema Today, Automaton, and 3 more.
Kojima Productions announced on September 10, 2026 that its new-generation action espionage game PHYSINT will be published in partnership with Xbox, ending its collaboration with PlayStation Studios. Hideo Kojima said Sony Interactive Entertainment notified him in mid-June 2026 that the in-production PHYSINT project would be canceled. Kojima wrote on X that PHYSINT is an important project for him and for Kojima Productions, so he spent about three months searching for a new partner and settled on Xbox, a party with whom he can share a vision for the future. The Xbox partnership expands on the existing collaboration behind OD, which is also set for Xbox Game Studios. Xbox division CEO Asha Sharma said Kojima's attitude of challenging conventional concepts is the kind of creativity Xbox wants to support. PlayStation Studios said it made the difficult decision to step away after careful consideration and continues to hold Kojima's vision for the game in deep respect. Release date and price for PHYSINT are undecided.
Cast members named at the original reveal include Minami Hamabe, Korean actor Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee), and Charlee Fraser, who played Furiosa's mother in "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." The game was first announced during a State of Play stream, pitched as a new-generation action espionage title that crosses the boundary between film and games, drawing on the roughly 30 years of espionage action experience Kojima built before it.
Kojima has said full-scale production would begin after DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH, which launched on PlayStation 5 in June 2025 and reached PC the following March. The DEATH STRANDING series has surpassed 27 million cumulative players, and the franchise is expanding into a live-action film with A24, the Hollywood co-produced feature anime DEATH STRANDING MOSQUITO, and the original anime series DEATH STRANDING ISOLATIONS, scheduled to stream on Disney+ in 2027. OD was announced in 2023 with Xbox Game Studios.
Game Spark notes the original PHYSINT reveal included a partnership with Columbia Pictures, which sits under the Sony Group, leaving the production structure there unclear. PlayStation's statement thanked Kojima for "three years of creative collaboration that has led the industry and redefined genres" and said the bond between the two parties remains strong. Kojima closed his post with: "The next-generation 'espionage action' game 'PHYSINT' is continuing production, so please do not worry."
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 7 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- 4Gamer.net PlayStation Studios，小島秀夫氏の新作諜報アクション「PHYSINT」への協力から撤退すると発表。協力体制がPlayStationからXBOXへ移行
- GAME Watch (Impress) コジマプロダクションの新作「PHYSINT」がプレイステーションからXBOXへ
- Cinema Today 小島秀夫「PHYSINT」XBOXとタッグで開発へ 浜辺美波ら出演の諜報アクションゲーム
- Automaton コジマプロダクション、新作『PHYSINT』ではPlayStationではなくXBOXとタッグに。SIEの“『PHYSINT』プロジェクト中止”通達を受けて
- Denfaminicogamer SIEとコジマプロダクションの新作アクションゲーム『PHYSINT』パブリッシャーが「Xbox Game Studios」に変更へ
- GameBusiness.jp 小島秀夫監督新作『PHYSINT』PlayStationとの協力関係が解消…『OD』と同じくXBOXとパートナーシップへ
- Game Spark 小島秀夫監督新作『PHYSINT』PlayStationとの協力関係が解消…『OD』と同じくXBOXとパートナーシップへ