Xbox is reportedly paying nowhere near the $400 million figure that had been circulating as the Physint budget, after that number was walked back within a day of first doing the rounds.
The Physint budget traces back to Tokyo Game Show earlier this month, where Hideo Kojima was the main talking point among developers and press following his split from Sony over the project. Sources told various journalists the budget for Kojima’s new stealth game could run anywhere from $300 million to $600 million, with $400 million coming up most often. Even the journalist behind that range described it as an impression from show-floor conversation rather than a confirmed figure, one of several numbers being discussed rather than a fixed price anyone could verify.
That range matters partly because of how skittish the games industry has become about single-title budgets. KitGuru’s own take on the story points to Concord, Sony’s live-service shooter that shut down within weeks of launch, as the reason any nine-figure figure now draws scrutiny. A tactical stealth game from a creator with Kojima’s track record is a different risk profile, but the scale of the rumoured Physint budget was always going to be judged against that backdrop.
What sources are now saying about the Physint budget
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier said his own Xbox sources described the signed figure as “significantly less” than the reported $400 million. Windows Central’s Jez Corden went further, telling his readers the deal amounted to “a fraction” of that number, which is where the “fraction” framing carried by KitGuru’s report originates. Neither journalist put a hard number on what Xbox actually paid, but both accounts agree the widely quoted $400 million never reflected the real contract.
The deal covers more than one game
Physint was not the only asset in the agreement. Xbox also picked up film and TV rights tied to Kojima Productions, and reportedly reworked the deal surrounding OD, Kojima’s other project, a horror game. That means the widely quoted budget figure was only ever a partial picture of what changed hands, and it is one reason estimates for “the deal” varied so much depending on which parts of it a source was describing.
How fast the story reversed
By teqpost’s count, the reversal happened fast: Eurogamer’s report using the “fraction” framing published 23.6 hours before KitGuru’s follow-up added the Schreier and Corden quotes behind it. That is a short enough gap to suggest the $400 million figure was walked back almost as soon as it had finished circulating as a rumour.
The size of the correction also lands against the backdrop of Xbox’s own cost discipline. This is a company that spent much of the past year on the kind of restructuring that moved Halo to Activision and closed Ninja Theory, so a nine-figure commitment to one creator’s next game, whatever the real number turns out to be, is not a decision made lightly.
What to watch next
Physint still has no release window, and nobody involved with the deal has claimed the game will be exclusive to Xbox. That leaves open the possibility it eventually reaches PlayStation as well, despite Kojima’s public split from Sony over the project. Whether Xbox or Kojima Productions ever confirms an actual figure, rather than leaving it to anonymous sourcing, is the next thing worth watching.
