Hideo Kojima Talks More About PHYSINT, And Why He Wanted To Make Another Action-Espionage Game

Hideo Kojima is known mostly as the creator of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, a series of tactical action espionage games that became foundational inspirations for stealth and action games alike.

While Death Stranding and its coming sequel are currently Kojima’s focused, at the end of the most recent State Of Play it was revealed that he’s returning to the genre he originally put on the map.

PHYSINT is a coming action-espionage game from Kojima Productions, and while we don’t know a lot about it, right now it looks to fans like Kojima is making a spiritual-successor to Metal Gear Solid.

Speaking on a new video from his own HideoTube channel on YouTube, Kojima talked a bit more about PHYSINT, and why he wanted to go back to an action espionage game.

He explains that it’s due in part to him falling so ill towards the beginning of the pandemic, he had to undergo surgery and went as far as to write his will. The reality of his own death made him contemplate a few things.

“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.

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. I get many requests from Hollywood to make films, but I’ve refused them. Because I have my own company now, I can’t leave for one or two years to go make a movie.

The company would collapse. 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 many creators in the business, though the output is a game, it won’t be too different from movies.”

PHYSINT, whatever it ends of being, seems like it’ll be the most ambitious project of Hideo Kojima’s career, as he seems more adamant than ever to create something that perfectly balances between being a game and a movie.

Hopefully it’ll be well-worth the experience, and the wait, since we know that PHYSINT won’t go into full production until Death Stranding 2: On The Beach has arrived.

You can watch the full episode of this latest HideoTube, with his guests Risa Unai and Kenjiro Tsuda, the Japanese voice actor for the Sam Bridges character in Death Stranding, below.

Source – [HideoTube via Gematsu]