With all the drama regarding Sony dropping its deal to publish Physint and the title subsequently getting picked up by Xbox, director Hideo Kojima isn’t quite sure whether the espionage title will make its way to PlayStation platforms. In an interview with IGN, Kojima said that he hasn’t even decided on what game engine the title will use, and that he is still experimenting.
Noting that work on Physint never really stopped and that he is still working on concepts and casting, Kojima also said that he is still in the experimentation phase for things like “the new technology, like enemy AI and stuff”. Since there is still quite a bit of work to do, he said that “It’s not like we’re ready to go, or like it’s a big team already. It’s more like a very small team that remained for the crucial parts and all the others moved to OD.”
As for whether Physint was originally being developed with Guerrilla Games’ Decima Engine and if these plans changed following Sony’s announcement, Kojima reiterated that “I haven’t really decided yet. I’m still experimenting.”
“After we decided to team up with Xbox, they said they will give us a lot of technological support. When I went to visit them during the Don Mattrick days, they had so many labs and everything, and they were experimenting on so many things, like state-of-the-art, new, really new, cutting-edge technology. I was really surprised. I was thinking, ‘There are so many Doc Browns from Back to the Future here!’ So, I want to use all this new technology. Anything that I can use, I want to use, and I’m looking forward to teaming up with Xbox, but I really haven’t decided about the engine.”
When asked whether Physint will follow the lead of many other first-party Xbox games that typically get multiplatform releases, Kojima said that it will likely come down to the publisher’s decision. “In previous updates from Xbox, I thought that they have this kind of stance where they want to deliver to as many gamers as possible, no matter what the platform is. I think all of that will be announced at a later time. I’m not sure yet, and I can’t really say.”
He also spoke about his larger ambitions for Physint. Noting that he is still determined to finish the project, Kojima also spoke about potentially adapting it into a live-action movie. This plan might even go as far as having a shorter timeline between a game’s release and its film adaptation.
“These days of digital production, we could actually kind of use the same assets for a movie and a game. But anyway, this has been reset to a new partner. But that’s the feeling I have. I want to kind of expand the IP. Of course, I’ll release the game first probably! I’ve been doing all the casting for the game, and it’s progressing well.”
In another recent interview, Kojima also spoke about how he was shocked by Sony’s decision to drop its publishing deal for Physint since it was “the biggest selling title I could possibly create” and that “I didn’t think Physint would be on the list of being canceled.”
