(working title) is an upcoming action-adventure stealth game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game is set to be directed by Hideo Kojima and marks his second title produced in collaboration with Xbox. The game features an ensemble cast led by Bill Skarsgård, alongside Charlee Fraser, Ma Dong-seok, and Minami Hamabe in supporting roles.
Kojima and PlayStation announced a partnership to develop a new original IP in January 2024 in the State of Play event, building on their work together for the Death Stranding franchise. Physint marks Kojima Productions' return to the "action-espionage" subgenre the developer helped popularize with his work on the Metal Gear franchise published by Konami. The game will feature synergy between interactive elements and a deeper integration of multimedia presentation, as the developer planned to closely collaborate with Sony's film production studio Columbia Pictures.
Production began following the development and release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach in June 2025, with the game unveiled in September. Sony ended their involvement with the game in June 2026, leading Kojima Productions to seek a new publishing partner, with Xbox subsequently announced as the game's new publisher that September.
Development
Partnership with PlayStation (2024–2026) During the January 2024 PlayStation State of Play video presentation, Hideo Kojima and the head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst appeared together in a video message to announce a new partnership between Kojima Productions and Sony Interactive Entertainment, who were set to collaborate on another original intellectual property (IP), following their co-development of Death Stranding (2019) and its sequel (2025). The game, under the working title Physint, was described as Kojima's return to the "action-espionage" genre, being regarded as a spiritual successor to Kojima's Metal Gear franchise. In addition, Kojima described his vision for the game as built on multimedia synergy, blending the interactive elements of video games, with the presentation qualities of film, television, and music, in order to "transcend" the mediums in terms of narrative, casting, sound, and themes. This hybrid of formats was expected to be accomplished through close collaboration with Sony's film, television and music divisions, with their film production arm Columbia Pictures being involved in an unspecified capacity. Kojima mentioned that Physint will be the culmination of his work. In December 2023, Kojima Productions filed Japanese trademarks for the "Social Stealth System", assumed to be a central gameplay element for Physint. Trademarks for the game title were also filed in Japan before the State of Play announcement in the same month.
The following month, Kojima expanded on his decision to produce Physint at that time in an interview, stating that the idea to return to stealth-action games was influenced by a combination of fans' constant inquiries regarding him developing a new Metal Gear game, as well as dealing with illness and undergoing surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused him to question his own capacity for making video games as he aged, and that he reconsidered his priorities after having successfully launched a franchise with Death Stranding, and being able to develop an original idea with OD. Physint being conceived as a hybrid of interactive and film media was partially influenced by a conversation Kojima had with filmmaker and collaborator Guillermo del Toro, who urged him to continue making video games that were strongly modelled after films in light of receiving requests from Hollywood studios to produce live-action features. In a HideoTube episode that was streamed at the time, he stated that Physint would ensure that while players will play a game, others like their parents would think it's a movie.
In April 2025, Kojima stated development for Physint would enter 'phase two' after OD's completion. He mentioned in an interview with French magazine Le Film français that the title was still "five to six years away" from release. While promoting Death Stranding 2 in July 2025, Kojima insinuated that both OD and Physint could potentially be his last game projects, expressing interest in pivoting Kojima Productions towards filmmaking depending on the studio's situation following their releases. He also cited his age for wanting to pivot to filmmaking after Physint is released. In August 2025, Physint was reported to be in the conceptual stage, with Kojima suggesting he was working on the title's concepts completely alone while the rest of Kojima Productions was involved with OD's production.
In September 2025, Kojima Productions unveiled preliminary details on Physint alongside OD during a special presentation commemorating the studio's tenth anniversary as an independent developer at Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills. Actors Charlee Fraser, Ma Dong-seok, and Minami Hamabe were announced to have joined the ensemble cast for the title. The game's poster was also presented during the event, depicting the game's main protagonist in silhouette, which has the tagline "Here comes the feeling". Kojima teased that the game would offer "the next stage of tactical-espionage action" and that its graphical fidelity would "break the barrier" between films and games. During the event, Hamabe's likeness was shown using Physints engine to demonstrate the technology it will use, produced in collaboration with Serbian software company 3Lateral in Novi Sad in January 2025. In January 2026, Kojima confirmed that the studio had been recruiting additional Kojima Productions staff in anticipation of entering full production on Physint, with work on additional casting, and facial and performance capture beginning later that year. Pre-production for the game was initially delayed by the 2024–2025 SAG-AFTRA video game strike, which also affected OD. In an interview with An An on December 7, 2025, Kojima expressed interest to produce a sequel to Physint. On December 31, 2025, Kojima shared his New Year message through social media that by 2026, the third phase will start after moving forward with the second phase.
Cancellation by PlayStation and partnership with Xbox (2026–present) In June 2026, Sony ceased their partnership on Physint's development, leading Kojima and his studio to seek out a new publisher in the hopes of securing financing and continuing the game's development for three months. That September, Kojima Productions announced that the publishing rights to Physint had been acquired by Xbox Game Studios, extending their ongoing partnership past OD as part of an overall agreement between the two parties that would see them collaborating on projects across games, television, and film. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma separately released a statement complimenting the creator's ambitiousness, which "reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at Xbox". Variety reported that discussions between Kojima and Sharma regarding further collaborations started in early 2026 following her succession from Phil Spencer as Xbox CEO. During Kojima's visit to Xbox in Redmond, Washington, he posed for a photo with Sharma and Chief Content Officer Matt Booty and received an airtight container for him with Kojima's name on the cover. On September 14, 2026, Sharma made a visit to Japan where she met with Kojima at the Kojima Productions office to speak about matters related to OD and Physint while signing a message on the office's visitors' wall. Sharma eyeing further partnerships between Xbox and Kojima was speculated as a strategy for the platform holder to achieve a "foothold in Japan", a region and demographic the company had historically struggled with. Sharma's visit coincided with the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2026 convention the following week.
A report from Bloomberg News on September 11, 2026 described that concerns regarding the game exceeding its budget despite a lengthy development period and missing rigorously placed deadlines, softer sales from Death Stranding 2 compared to its predecessor, funding difficulties spurred by recent live-service game failures such as Concord (2024), and contractual obligations that restricted the game from remaining a permanent PlayStation exclusive, all contributed to the decision by Sony to rescind support for the game. Writer Jason Schreier also suggested that Kojima was subject to more intense scrutiny by PlayStation's current leadership that did not reciprocate his intentions as well as prior executives.
Forbes writer Paul Tassi separately reported that Kojima Productions may lose permission to use the Decima engine, as well as access to Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures soundstages for filming and motion capture work following the game's cancellation and move to Xbox. Unreal Engine 5, which is already being used to develop OD, is being eyed as a candidate to replace Decima for Physint with an increase in pre-production time. The release of new Physint posters on September 17, 2026 showed the trademarks of Epic Games, 3Lateral, Kojima Productions, Xbox, and MetaHuman, suggesting that UE is being used instead.
During the Xbox Tokyo Game Show stream on September 17, Kojima announced that Bill Skarsgård was officially cast to portray the game's lead after extensive screen tests and costume fittings with Fraser were conducted throughout the year. A new poster, with a picture photographed by Kojima and featuring Skarsgård and Fraser, was unveiled during the event with the tagline "The Next Cold War Begins", which was interpreted online as acknowledging the game's role in reuniting Kojima Productions with the spy thriller genre after previously departing the Metal Gear series, paired with the prior tagline. Kojima reiterated that further casting announcements would be shared in the future. Yoji Shinkawa was confirmed to be collaborating with Kojima as the game's character and mechanical art designer, reprising his duties from prior Kojima Productions games. Kojima is credited for Physint'''s scenario, production, game design, and direction. The announcement was done before Kojima appeared at the Xbox Fanfest Tour event. On September 19, 2026, Bill posted a message online speaking about his casting in the game and his trust on Kojima as someone "who really blends cinema and video game".