We’re following a messy, fast-moving rumour about Hideo Kojima’s next game Physint — and the budget numbers being thrown around are wildly inconsistent. Per Push Square, multiple outlets and insiders have offered different takes on whether the title ever approached a reported $400 million price tag, who would have paid it, and what it means now that PlayStation walked away and Xbox has picked the project up.
What Was Reported
According to Push Square, a report from The Game Business initially claimed that new publisher Xbox was “stumping up about $400 million” for Physint. That claim has since been contradicted by multiple voices.
- Jez Corden of Windows Central reportedly told Push Square that Microsoft is “absolutely not paying $400 million,” though he conceded that this may have been the sum Kojima requested from Sony. Corden’s “first-hand sources” say Xbox is paying a “fraction” of that reported figure.
- Chris Dring of The Game Business is said to have later clarified he’s heard Microsoft is paying “quite a bit less” than the larger figures allegedly quoted to Sony.
- Jason Schreier of Bloomberg has reportedly indicated an Xbox source told him Microsoft signed Physint for “significantly less” than the rumoured $400 million, while stressing he was hesitant to settle on exact numbers without documentation or multiple corroborating sources.
Push Square’s write-up also reiterates earlier reporting that PlayStation announced it had pulled out of Physint and that the project was first announced in 2024. The game has since been picked up by Xbox and is reported to star Bill Skarsgard in the lead role; development is said to be early and Kojima is reportedly unsure which engine to use now that Guerrilla’s proprietary Decima “appears to be out of the equation.”
The Source & Credibility
We’re dealing with multiple, sometimes contradictory claims here, and Push Square’s piece collects reporting and commentary from a handful of named sources. Take this with a pinch of salt.
- Push Square relays claims from The Game Business, the original outlet that floated the $400 million figure for Microsoft.
- Push Square cites Jez Corden of Windows Central describing his “first-hand sources” that deny Microsoft paid the full rumoured amount and instead used a “fraction” of it.
- Push Square also references clarification from Chris Dring and separate reporting by Jason Schreier, who qualified the numbers and expressed caution about pinning down exact sums.
Notably, Push Square reminds readers that Kojima Productions pushed back on some claims in a statement encouraging fans to approach reports with a “dose of scepticism.” That, combined with the range of figures being cited, means the truth could sit anywhere between the extremes being reported.
What It Could Mean
If true that Kojima asked for something approaching $400 million from Sony while retaining IP ownership and insisting on timed exclusivity terms, it helps explain why PlayStation allegedly walked away. Per Push Square, Schreier suggested the optics weren’t great for Sony if they were expected to fund a huge budget without owning the IP outright.
Meanwhile, the reports that Xbox is paying less — described variously as a “fraction,” “quite a bit less,” or “significantly less” — raise immediate questions about what the game will look like under a smaller budget. Will the scope change? Will the cross-media ambitions shift? Push Square asks whether the Microsoft-backed version will even be “the same game anymore.”
We previously covered the news that Bill Skarsgård was cast in Physint, and that casting still sits amid these budget and platform questions — a reminder that key talent is attached even as funding and ownership continue to be debated publicly.
Why This Matters
This story matters because it touches on three hot-button industry issues: how much publishers are willing to invest in auteur-led projects, who owns the IP when big budgets are involved, and what timed exclusivity is worth to platform holders. If Push Square’s mosaic of reporting is accurate, Physint was set to be an extraordinarily expensive endeavour for a platform holder that would not retain IP ownership — and those conditions apparently pushed PlayStation away.
Equally, if Xbox has agreed to back the project for a substantially smaller sum, that could signal compromises to scope, talent payments, or cross-media plans. Or it could mean Microsoft is structuring the deal differently — we simply don’t have the full picture yet, and the quoted participants in Push Square’s coverage urge caution.
We’ll keep tracking this one closely as more concrete documentation or corroboration emerges. For now, treat the reported numbers as uncertain, the sources as mixed, and the potential outcomes for Physint as very much up in the air.
