September 10, 2026
2 Min ReadImage via Kojima ProductionsPlayStation Studios has rescinded its publishing partnership with Kojima Productions on espionage game Physint, which will now be published by Xbox instead.
Announced yesterday evening, PlayStation Studios revealed the end of the collaboration via social media. "After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Kojima Productions on its project Physint," the update reads. "We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima's vision for the game."
Shortly after PlayStation's news, Xbox announced that it is expanding its own partnership with Kojima Productions by picking up the recently vacated publishing duties for Physint. This means that Xbox will be supporting two of Kojima's upcoming projects: Physint and OD - Knock, which was announced in late 2025.
"Creators have choices about where and how they bring their ideas to life," Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said. "We're honored that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox to work with Kojima Productions on Physint. His ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at Xbox.”
As noted in the full announcement, the relationship between the two companies will also "extend beyond games" to include collaborations across film and television that aim "to bring new stories to broader audiences."
Studio founder Hideo Kojima also shared his own statement about the change on social media, saying that he began to search for a new publishing partner after PlayStation Studios gave the developer an unexpected notice that it would cancel Physint.
"Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner," explains Kojima in a portion of the full statement translated by IGN. "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."
This latest partnership comes amidst a period of upheaval at Xbox that has so far brought mass layoffs to Xbox-owned studios, expected to total 3,200 job cuts by the end of this fiscal year, as well as the cancellations of projects and partnerships. Back in June, Hitman-maker IO Interactive laid off an unknown number of employees after Xbox pulled funding and publishing support for "Project Fantasy." Last year, Romero Games found itself laying off employees after a suddenly losing project funding when a company, reportedly Xbox, backed out.
As for the relationship between PlayStation and Kojima Productions, the company said that it "remains strong after three decades" following past partnerships on the Death Stranding series and that it looks forward to continued close collaboration in the future.
Top StoriesXboxPlayStationAbout the Author
Diego Argüello
Contributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com
Diego Nicolás Argüello is a freelance journalist and critic from Argentina. Video games helped him to learn English, so now he covers them for places like The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, and more. He also runs Into the Spine, a site dedicated to fostering and supporting new writers, and co-hosted Turnabout Breakdown, a podcast about the Ace Attorney series. He’s most likely playing a rhythm game as you read this.
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