Physint, the new stealth action project from Hideo Kojima, had attempted to be cancelled by PlayStation earlier this summer, with Xbox now stepping in as the game's new publisher, in promising news for those hoping to play the game on PC.
Seen by many as the spiritual successor to the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Hideo Kojima's latest project was announced back in early 2024 at Sony's January State of Play. But now, in surprise announcements from Kojima, Xbox, and PlayStation, publishing duties for the game are switching from PlayStation to Xbox.
It's now obvious that the change has been in progress for months, with Kojima stating on X that his studio was notified of PlayStation's decision back in mid-June, and has since been 'determined' to keep the project alive by searching for a new publisher. PlayStation haven't gone into the specifics for their decision to step away from collaboration, with its own statement published on X only noting the decision was made after 'careful consideration'.
As part of the collaboration between PlayStation Studios and Kojima Productions, the game was previously reported to be built on the Decima Engine, the engine built by Guerrilla Games (part of PlayStation Studios) and used in titles such as Death Stranding 2. Whether that arrangement can continue under an Xbox-published title remains unclear.
This switch of publishers significantly increases the chances of Physint coming to PC. After a change of heart towards releasing former console exclusives such as God of War, The Last of Us, and Uncharted to PC in recent years, Sony's approach now looks set to change again - earlier this summer, we reported that Sony was to end PC ports of single-player, narrative-driven games it publishes with only online multiplayer titles still arriving on PC.
New Xbox boss Asha Sharma has also promised to bring back console exclusivity for selected titles the company publishes. Thankfully, this means PCs will still receive such games on day one, but consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch 2 could be excluded. It remains to be seen whether Physint will fall into this console-exclusive category.
It's still early days for the project, but we'll be sure to hear more about Physint in the coming years with Xbox on board as the new publisher. Even so, a release date still looks a long way off, with Kojima previously stating that the game would take him 'another five or six years' to complete, which suggests a release date somewhere beyond 2030.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.pcgamesn.com/physint/playstation-xbox-publisher-switch
