Xbox's Physint Deal Cost a Fraction of Sony's $400M

Did you hear about that $400 million price tag for Physint? Turns out, Xbox might have snagged the deal for a whole lot less.

When PlayStation pulled out of Kojima Productions' Physint, the rumor mill went into overdrive. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reported that a combination of factors led to the split: a massive budget, missed deadlines, and the project being years away from release. The developer later encouraged "skepticism" about all this. But the number that really raised eyebrows was $400 million—originally claimed by Chris Dring of The Game Business.

However, that figure is now being challenged. On ResetEra, Schreier said he was "hesitant to get into exact numbers without seeing documentation or corroborating them with multiple firsthand sources, as always." But he added, "Someone at Xbox with firsthand knowledge of the deal told me that they signed Physint for significantly less than this."

Windows Central's Jez Corden echoed that sentiment. He noted that "first-hand sources with direct knowledge of the contracts [say] the figure for Physint is far lower than what is being reported here. It has been suggested to me that the '$400 million' figure is potentially what Sony and PlayStation might've been on the hook for until they cancelled the deal." So, that eye-watering number might have been Sony's burden, not Xbox's.

By comparison, Xbox's deal with Kojima Productions is reportedly a "fraction" of that. And it's not just about the game—the agreement seemingly included movie and TV licenses for the tactical espionage title, plus "enhanced terms" for the horror game OD. What those enhanced terms are remains unknown, but it's not surprising given how strongly the relationship between both companies has developed.

For now, neither Physint nor OD has a release date. Kojima isn't even sure whether Physint will launch on PlayStation or continue using Guerrilla's proprietary Decima Engine. However, the studio insists that its relationship with the publisher remains strong. Never say never.

What do you think about these numbers? Will you be picking up Physint when it eventually drops? Let us know in the comments!