Hideo Kojima announced a new “action spy game” called Physint at Sony’s PlayStation State of Play event last month. And to hear the founder of Kojima Productions describe it, Physint Definitely sounds a lot like a new version of Metal Gear, the stealth series that Kojima created, but taken to the extreme.
In one new episode of the YouTube show HideoTube – the first in seven years – Kojima says that the constant pressure from Metal Gear fans to do something new in this vein pushed him to return to the action-spy genre. A health crisis in 2020 also appears to be pivotal in Kojima’s decision to embark on a third development project.
Kojima describes Physint as “both a game and a movie at the same time”, hence the game’s unveiling at the Sony Pictures booth. Kojima emphasized this Physint will be primarily a game. “However, if your mother comes in and sees you playing this game, she will think you are watching a movie,” he said in translated comments.
He then talks about the path that led him back to the genre: “Because I became independent, I wanted to do something new with my own IP.” To challenge myself, I did it first [Death Stranding]. Then I started a franchise [Death Stranding 2]. And I wanted to do something even newer, so I started working on it OUT OF. And since then, many new ideas have emerged. But for the last eight years, every day on social media I’ve been asked by users around the world to create another Metal Gear and the like.”
Kojima says he “fell ill” in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and underwent surgery for his condition. The creator says he was at his lowest point at the time and was considering quitting game development. Kojima makes his condition sound bad at the time and remarks that he wrote down his will.
“And at that moment I realized that people are dying,” he explained. “But I turned 60 last year. I’ll be 70 in 10 years. I hope to never retire. However, I thought that if users want it so much, I should change my priorities a bit. I still want to do new things, but I decided to make an action spy game.”
Kojima also touched on Hollywood’s appeal to making a film (something he’s actually already doing with production company A24). He said that his obligations at Kojima Productions made this impossible, but this Death Stranding Collaborator and film director Guillermo del Toro gave him some advice.
“I talked to Guillermo del Toro about it,” Kojima recalled Physint‘s creation. “And he said, ‘Hideo, what you’re doing is already a movie. Keep going as you are.’ His words saved me. And since we will be working with many developers in the industry, the result will be in the form of a game, but not too different from films.”
Physint was announced in January as a “brand new original IP.” The action spy game “will leverage cutting-edge technology and a stellar cast to deliver an unparalleled experience” and “[blur] “It transcends the boundaries between film and games, offering near-lifelike graphics and a new take on interactive entertainment,” the studio said in a statement. Physint It sounds like it’s still years away from completion – Kojima Productions has yet to deliver Death Stranding 2: On the Beach in 2025 and OUT OF at an unknown date – meaning we may not see Kojima’s return to spy action until the PlayStation 6 era.
