Xbox to publish PHYSINT after PlayStation exits project

Xbox will become the new publisher of PHYSINT, the action-espionage project directed by Hideo Kojima at Kojima Productions. The companies confirmed the change after PlayStation Studios announced it would no longer collaborate on the game. Despite the switch in partners, Kojima Productions says development will continue.

The confirmed development is a publishing change. Xbox’s statement says its relationship with the Japanese studio has expanded to include PHYSINT alongside OD, a project the companies were already making together. The announcement also says the partnership will extend into film and television, although it does not identify any specific production in either medium.

What changed for the project

PHYSINT was announced in February 2024 during a State of Play presentation as a collaboration between Kojima Productions and Sony Interactive Entertainment. From the beginning, it was described as an action-espionage production that would also try to narrow the boundary between games and film. Few concrete elements have been shown since then, and the project has remained at an early stage of production.

PlayStation Studios said it made the “difficult decision” to step away after considering the project. The company also said it still admires Kojima’s vision and that its relationship with Kojima Productions remains strong. Its statement did not give a financial, creative, or strategic reason for the departure.

Hideo Kojima provided a more specific timeline in his own statement. According to him, the studio unexpectedly received notice in mid-June 2026 that PlayStation would cancel the project under that partnership. Kojima Productions then spent about three months looking for a new publisher before deciding that Xbox shared its vision for the future of PHYSINT. This is the creator’s official account; there is no independent confirmation of the private negotiations or Sony’s reason for ending the arrangement.

Platforms and release timing remain open

The new announcement does not say which platforms will receive PHYSINT. It also does not define exclusivity, a business model, a release date, or a launch window. Xbox publishing the game therefore does not, by itself, establish that it will be exclusive to Xbox consoles or that a PlayStation version has been ruled out. Both possibilities remain unconfirmed.

No new trailer, gameplay footage, or production schedule accompanied the announcement. The joint statement is limited to confirming that development will move forward and promising more information as work progresses. Any release prediction or platform list circulating without a new official statement should be treated as speculation.

Why the publishing switch matters

A change of publisher can affect financing, distribution, technical support, marketing, and platform strategy. In the case of PHYSINT, however, the terms of the new agreement were not disclosed. The immediate, verifiable consequence is that the game is no longer a PlayStation collaboration and now sits within an existing relationship between Kojima Productions and Xbox.

That continuity reduces uncertainty about the project’s survival, but it does not explain how production will be reorganized. It also places two undated games, OD and PHYSINT, under the same publishing partnership. The deal is a significant expansion for both companies, even though audiences still need basic information before the full scope of the change becomes clear.