Hideo Kojima says he was 'shocked' after Sony cut ties with Physint over a Zoom call: 'Nothing could’ve prepared me for their decision to step away from the project'

Sony's recent decision to cut ties with Kojima Productions's Physint is one of the more unexpected turns of 2026. Even with the industry's many struggles, and speculation that Death Stranding 2 didn't sell as well as Sony hoped, the PlayStation studio shutting the door on one of the industry's most famed and respected designers was a huge surprise.

While Kojima Productions would eventually find a new publisher for Physint in Microsoft, it took a frantic three months of pitching for that happen. This is partly because Kojima himself was similarly blindsided by Sony's decision, as the veteran designer revealed in the first interview he's given since switching publishers.

Speaking to IGN, Kojima revealed that in June, ...