Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima is working on a brand new action-espionage game “that is also a movie”
Physint will have the “look, story, theme, cast, acting, fashion and sound” of a film
Almost 10 years after Hideo Kojima left the Metal Gear Solid series behind to start his indie studio, the celebrated developer and Instagram film influencer is planning to return to the genre that made his name with a brand new action-espionage game. And in true Kojima fashion, the video game is said to be just as much a movie as it is a game.
Kojima revealed the “brand new, original IP” at the end of Sony’s State of Play showcase this evening, announcing the upcoming title as the result of a partnership between PlayStation and Kojima Productions. That partnership has previously seen Death Stranding released for both PlayStation and PC, with sequel Death Stranding 2: On the Beach getting a typically cryptic trailer reveal moments before Kojima’s in-person appearance.
Kojima said that production on the action-espionage project (don’t call it stealth-action!) currently titled Physint - which, knowing Kojima could well be the game’s final name too - will get underway fully after Death Stranding 2. In other words, expect it to be a few years until we see it arrive, as we now know Death Stranding 2 won’t be out until 2025.
Kojima noted that 2026 will mark his 40th year working in games, saying that “I am confident that this title will be the culmination of my work” in regards to Physint.
While the developer called the project an “next-generation action-espionage game”, it will be familiar territory for Kojima in combining “cutting-edge technology” and a strong influence from movies.
In fact, in news sure to please those who have a keyboard macro ready to reply “just make a movie already” to everything Kojima has made to date, this may be Kojima’s most movie-adjacent video game yet - even compared to his collaboration with director Jordan Peele, experimental horror game OD.
Kojima explicitly said Physint would aim to “transcend the barriers between film and video games”, stating that while it is an “interactive” game in the standard sense, “it is also a movie at the same time in terms of look, story, theme, cast, acting, fashion and sound” - leaving, er, not much that isn’t basically a film, then. Expect Norman Reedus to show up at some point, probably.
To really hammer the point home, the tease pulled back from Kojima to reveal the Sony and Columbia Pictures studio lot in Hollywood with a billboard revealing the game’s name. That's all we've got on Physint for now, but expect Geoff Keighley to hit speed-dial on Kojima for some more details soon enough.