A decade ago, at its PlayStation E3 press conference, Sony introduced veteran game designer Hideo Kojima in grand fashion to show off the first trailer for Death Stranding. It’s now 2026, and that partnership appears to have fizzled out, as Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor, Physint, has found a new home at Xbox after Sony dropped it. The Metal Gear Solid creator has also confirmed that he received notice from the company that it intended to cancel Phsyint, leading to several months in which the project was shopped around before Microsoft stepped in to sign a publishing deal.
It’s yet another baffling decision made by Sony as it continues to set a new speedrunning record for jettisoning goodwill, and naturally, the Internet has a thing or two to say about its divorce from Kojima–including how his studio, Kojima Productions, is situated directly across the road from Sony. You can’t make this stuff up!
Well. This is awkward now pic.twitter.com/sWrCH9rkuX
— Ch4rl13 (@milktst) September 10, 2026
Daily life at Kojima Productions: pic.twitter.com/WSuoGNXAvu
— Philip Arola (@philiparola) September 10, 2026
Sony from now on after the XBOX partnership news.. pic.twitter.com/EWlTkMs6iQ
— Ryan Hyett (@ItsRyanHyett) September 10, 2026
LOL kojipro after today's Xbox news
Soubds like Xbox is doing what Sony Physint
— Charles Harte (@chuckduck365.bsky.social) 2026-09-10T03:21:45.009Z
PlayStation cancelling anything that starts with Phys apparently..
— Mav (@FunSpeculation) September 10, 2026
PlayStation got the metal gear guy so he could make them a spiritual successor to metal gear, and then got rid of him when he started making a spiritual successor to metal gear. Masterful gambit
— PSF Sierra (@slothsaretight3) September 10, 2026
well that was a fucking lie 😭 pic.twitter.com/TrDFPZtyPZ
— Radec (@realradec) September 10, 2026
gaming today in a nutshell
playstation: we broke up with kojima
xbox: surprise we are dating kojima
nintendo: hehe kirby is round and fat— Victoria Tran 🧋 (@TheVTran) September 10, 2026
Valve: *accidentally leaks the next 2 years of video games*
Sony: "oh yeah, watch THIS" *ends their partnership with Kojima and gives it to their main competitor*
— Leytrx | ✨MDA-Winning Fanfic Writer✨ (@MasterLeytrx) September 10, 2026
Physint is the second game from Kojima Productions to be made in partnership with Xbox–the first is his upcoming horror game OD–but don’t expect to see it for a long time. While the game is a return to his Metal Gear roots with its focus on stealth and espionage, Kojima is also aiming for it blur the lines between movies and video games. Back when the project was still being supported by Sony, Kojima mentioned that it was still several years away from being released, and that timetable may have slipped further after the Sony drama.
