Sony decides to step away
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How about this for a story to wake up to!
It’s been announced overnight that Sony has decided to step away from Hideo Kojima’s new PHYSINT game, which is described by the man himself as a “genre-defining action-espionage title”, and Xbox Game Studios has stepped in to publish the project instead. Yes, a game is really swapping from PlayStation to Xbox here!
PlayStation’s statement doesn’t explain why they’ve stepped away, but mentions “careful consideration”:
“An update from PlayStation Studios: After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on its project PHYSINT. We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima’s vision for the game. Our relationship remains strong after three decades of industry-leading, genre-defining creative cooperation, and we look forward to continued close collaboration with Hideo Kojima and his award-winning independent studio in the future.”
Kojima says in a separate statement that he was informed in mid-June that PlayStation wanted to cancel PHYSINT, but with Xbox they’ve found a partner “with whom we share a common vision for the future”.
Here’s a look at his statement:
“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. 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.”
Finally, Xbox boss Asha Sharma has shared some comments this morning on how she’s “honoured” by Kojima’s decision to partner with Microsoft on PHYSINT, and that “his ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at XBOX”.
In terms of the game itself, we don’t really know much about it just yet (it’s in a similar situation to Kojima’s other ongoing Xbox project, OD), but as mentioned it’s an action-espionage title that’s supposedly being created “using cutting-edge technology and the best talents from around the world, both from film and video games”.
The belief is that it’s still a few years away yet, but Xbox is clearly a big believer in the project.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know down in the comments section below.
Fraser is the News Editor at Pure Xbox, where he spends his time reporting on the biggest stories in the world of Xbox and beyond.
