Kojima Productions asks players to treat report on why it switched from PlayStation to Xbox ‘with a dose of scepticism’

Kojima Productions has commented on a recent report about why Physint switched from PlayStation to Xbox, asking players to treat it “with a dose of scepticism”.

Physint was previously set to be published by PlayStation Studios, but last week Kojima Productions moved the game’s production over to Xbox instead, after stating that PlayStation had tried to cancel the project.

This news was followed by a Bloomberg report which claimed that Physint was set to be cancelled by PlayStation due to the Death Stranding games not meeting Sony’s revenue expectations.

The report stated that the underperformance of the two Death Stranding games was “one major factor” in Physint’s cancellation, another being that Physint had reportedly missed deadlines and “was on track to be well over budget despite being years away from release,” according to people said to be familiar with the project.

Now Kojima Studios has published a statement on its official X account, in response to an unnamed report – which is presumably the Bloomberg one – asking players not to believe it at face value.

“You may have seen a recent article that mentions Kojima Productions, speculating on the reasons for the change in publishing partners for Physint,” the statement reads.

“Normally, we would not comment on unsubstantiated speculation on the internet, but these aspersions around our relationship with PlayStation, the commercial performance of the Death Stranding franchise, and the broader production planning and investment for Physint, have reached beyond the studio and have touched our fans, our creative partners, and colleagues we have worked alongside with for three decades.

“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.

“Make no mistake, this was a serious situation for the studio with a range of potentially significant implications. While we recognise that the article may have caused alarm, we want to reassure you all, for the record: that the studio is in a healthy, profitable state, development for Physint continues to move forward with XBOX, and our relationship with PlayStation remains strong.”

In a statement posted on X last week, Kojima said that Sony had told him it was cancelling the game three months ago, and he had since been trying to find a new partner to work with in order to keep it alive.

“As confirmed earlier through our official channels, in mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the Physint project,” he said at the time.

“Physint is an important project both to me personally and to Kojima Productions. Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner.

“In the course of seeking advice and pursuing negotiations with people across many fields, we found in Xbox a partner with whom we share a common vision for the future, and we have decided to team up with them once again.

“Please rest assured that development of Physint, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward.”