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TechRadar
Catherine Lewis

Hideo Kojima is making his new espionage game because people wouldn’t stop asking for it: ‘I thought I should change my priorities a bit’

Hideo Kojima at the Tokyo Game Show in 2019.

Iconic game designer and the founder of Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima, has spoken a little bit more about his upcoming action-espionage game, and revealed that he decided to make it largely due to the constant demand from fans

The game, which has the working title ‘Physint,’ is a brand new IP that's being created in collaboration with Sony. Its production is planned to fully kick off after Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which is set to release in 2025. While details are very light on the ground right now, Kojima spoke more about his decision to make the title and elaborated slightly on his wish to “transcend the barriers between film and video games” in a new ‘HideoTube’ presentation.

In the presentation, Kojima reiterated his previous claim that the upcoming project “will be both a game and a movie at the same time,” and added: “Of course, it will be a game. However, if your mother walks in and sees you playing this game, she’ll think you’re watching a movie.” However, he also qualified his statement: “I’m not sure how far we can take it yet.”

Kojima also spoke about his career since he became an independent game designer, and noted that although he’s been focusing on newer ideas, fans online have constantly been asking him to return to the espionage genre. 

“In the last eight years, every day on social media, from users all around the world, people have been asking me to create another Metal Gear and stuff like that,” he said. 

“Then, I fell ill in 2020. It was also during the pandemic, so I was sick and isolated during all of it. I even had surgery. And I thought, ‘I can’t anymore.’ I was at my lowest and felt like I couldn’t go back to making games,” he explained. “I wrote a will, too. And in that moment, I realized that people die. But, I turned 60 last year. I’ll turn 70 in ten years. I hope to never retire. Having said that, if the users desire it so much, I thought I should change my priorities a bit. I still want to do new things, but I decided to make an action-espionage game.”

He went on to say that he receives “many requests from Hollywood to make films,” which he’s turned down since he can’t leave his company behind. Kojima added: “I was in a tough spot, and I talked to Guillermo del Toro about it. And he said, ‘Hideo, what you’re making is already a movie. Keep going as you are.’ His words saved me. And since we’ll be working with so many creators in the business, though the output is a game, it won’t be too different from movies.”

Chances are, it’s going to be a while before we can expect Physint to release, but with horror project OD, and Death Stranding 2 on the horizon, it’s an exciting time for fans of Kojima’s work. 

Be sure to check out our list of upcoming games for even more of the best new releases coming soon. You can also check out our recommendations for the best PC games for titles to dive into right now.

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