And so far Death Stranding 2 has sold… just over 2 million. Perhaps a drop-off that steep had a hand in their willingness to light money on fire.
Comment on PlayStation Ditched Hideo Kojima’s ‘Physint’ on Budget Concerns, Missed Deadlines
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Death Stranding sold 20 million copies and they ditch the studio over a (probably really arbitrary) deadline? There‘s probably a little more to this but whatever the case Sony can‘t help but shoot itself in the foot.
spip@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Guitar@lemmy.world 1 week ago
That might have contributed, but from what I have seen it basically broke even from it’s sales. If they haven’t lost money, this descision makes no sense. Kojima is basically Playstation royalty and his name carries so much weight in the industry. Especially since they were championing Physint as his triumphant return to the action espionage genre. I’ve never played one of his games and even I knew immediately this was a collosal fuck up on their part.
Katana314@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Given what a person can do with $8 million and an index fund targeting the Fortune 500 over 5-7 years, breaking even is probably not their goal. They don’t even want projects to fall even near that level.
Guitar@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Right, but it’s not just a spreadsheet descision. Kojima’s name carries immense weight in the industry. Just having him attached to your brand sells systems. The last time a company backstabbed him like this, they spent a decade making nothing but Pachinko and sports games.
Sony cutting him out is gonna be a lot more damaging to them than breaking even on a niche project. And let’s not forget that Physint won’t be nearly as niche as Death Stranding. It’s his return to the genre that made him famous.
Goodeye8@piefed.social 1 week ago
That’s because this isn’t about deadlines or budgets, it’s about exclusivity. Sony wouldn’t give two fucks about a deadline or a budget if the game was exclusive to PS. Kojima probably told them “No” on the exclusivity and Sony pulled the plug. I think it makes sense but overall yeah, the end result is that Sony keeps shooting themselves in the foot. I don’t think their return to exclusivity is going to successful.
123@programming.dev 1 week ago
This is the second large partnership he is part of that ends abruptly, it is possible he is hard to work with and could have an ego or work style that clashes with some others.
Gamers like his stuff, but he does seem to make odd decisions when it comes to celebrities on his projects (from an outsiders perspective).