This is an IGN opinion piece from Simon Cardy, who is always happy to see creators like Hideo Kojima being allowed to push video games forward with new ideas, wherever their home may be.Microsoft\u2019s hijacking of Hideo Kojima\u2019s Physint is without a doubt the company\u2019s biggest PR win in a year of disastrous news.<\/p>\n
But this short-term victory could transform into something more difficult, because Physint could well turn out to be one of Xbox\u2019s riskiest ever gambles. There are reasons to be confident if you\u2019re Xbox. For one, Kojima\u2019s track record matches up against most prestigious video game creators, at least from a critical perspective.<\/p>\n
For seconds, it would certainly have come as something of an embarrassing shock to Kojima that PlayStation would deem his project not worthy of completion. And so if you\u2019re Microsoft, the thought of Kojima developing a spiritual successor to his PlayStation-associated Metal Gear Solid series with a newfound chip on his shoulder must certainly have been a tempting proposition when talks first started some months back.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a near-unprecedented turn of events, with the only real analogue taking place 30 years ago when Final Fantasy 7 moved home from Nintendo to PlayStation partway through its development, a transition that was as formative for the original PlayStation console\u2019s legacy as Kojima\u2019s own Metal Gear Solid.But while there\u2019s a victory in tempting the belle of the ball away from their previous date, Xbox\u2019s big swing is far from a surefire hit.<\/p>\n
Aside from conjuring memories of Snake\u2019s adventures, we have no real way of knowing what Physint actually is yet. All we have is a promise of \u201cAction Espionage\u201d and one piece of artwork showcasing a shadowy, jacketed protagonist. Any confidence in Physint emanates purely from Kojima\u2019s track record.<\/p>\n
From a public perspective, that record is very strong \u2013 even the divisive Metal Gear Solid 4 is considered a masterpiece by some \u2013 but Xbox has a better understanding of Kojima\u2019s work than even his biggest fans. That\u2019s because it has access to OD, his current project.<\/p>\n
And if Xbox has confidence in Physint, that is likely informed by the fact that OD must be shaping up nicely. Surely if Kojima\u2019s new slice of anthological horror wasn\u2019t tracking to be something special, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and her leadership team wouldn\u2019t be so keen on investing further in his projects.<\/p>\n
We still don\u2019t know when we\u2019ll be playing what looks like a spiritual successor to P.T., but one unusual byproduct of this Physint bombshell is my newfound excitement for it.Investing presumably millions of dollars during a period of mass restructuring is not great for morale.The quality of Physint itself isn\u2019t the only issue Microsoft has to deal with, though.<\/p>\n
Investing presumably millions of dollars during a period of mass restructuring is not great for morale. And If you\u2019re one of the thousand people reportedly still yet to lose their job at Microsoft over the next year, then I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a certain amount of justified anger to be felt at seeing money be sent in such a luxurious manner here.<\/p>\n
Then there are the parallels between Kojima\u2019s work and the development staff that Xbox has let go this year. Arkane, creators of some of the best stealth-action games since Snake entered retirement, will no doubt be looking on as this deal unfolds with bemusement, confusion, or anger.<\/p>\n
Earlier this summer, the news came of Microsoft\u2019s intention to relinquish control of the immersive sim studio, alongside the likes of Double Fine, Undead Labs, Compulsion Games, and Undead Labs. Right now, the future of Arkane\u2019s current project \u2013 an action stealth game set in the world of Marvel\u2019s Blade \u2013 is as yet unknown.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t help but feel that some people inside of Arkane\u2019s Lyon headquarters must be filled with a level of frustration over seeing their project pushed to the side by Xbox, only for money to be thrown Kojima Productions\u2019 way to build a whole new stealth game from the ground up.If the Deathloop developer\u2019s future as an independent studio, or with another publisher\u2019s backing, yields a well-received Blade game, or even a brand new stealth project (my fingers will remain forever crossed for Dishonored 3), and Physint doesn\u2019t reach the lofty expectations that come with a Kojima creation, then the egg may well end up on Xbox\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
As of now, the yolk is very much on PlayStation, as it would appear that Sony\u2019s loss is everyone else\u2019s gain. Xbox gets a prestigious name to hang its hat on, and thanks to Microsoft\u2019s funding, Kojima gets to continue working on his passion project. But there\u2019s no guarantee that Physint will be the second coming of Metal Gear Solid.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not saying I don\u2019t think Kojima can recreate that same magic \u2014 I reviewed and loved Death Stranding 2, which more than slightly borrows from The Phantom Pain\u2019s stealth-action sandbox \u2014 but there\u2019s no denying that even if it's critically well received, Physint is not locked in to be a bestseller.If Physint doesn\u2019t make a healthy profit for Microsoft, will this still look like Xbox getting a win over its old rival?And that\u2019s the bottom line of what Sony has been about across the PS5 generation.<\/p>\n
Ingenuity and innovation have seemingly been pushed aside in favour of maximising profits. It\u2019s likely no coincidence that Death Stranding 2, a rare PlayStation 5 exclusive that shows creative ambition, will, as of now, be the last Kojima game to hit a Sony console \u2014 a fact still hard to believe when you consider just how much 1998\u2019s Metal Gear Solid shaped the original PlayStation and the cinematic aspirations of that console and its successor\u2019s libraries.<\/p>\n
As of now, we\u2019ve heard very little about how DS2 has done sales-wise, which is likely not a good sign of its commercial performance. With Bloomberg reporting that Physint had already missed deadlines and was looking to come in well over budget, it couldn\u2019t be much clearer that this was an economic decision rather than a creative one.<\/p>\n
If Physint doesn\u2019t make a healthy profit for Microsoft, will this still look like Xbox getting a win over its old rival?The console wars as we once knew them felt all but over, but this one game has the power to reignite the competition; a crucial playing piece added to the board that could shape the future perception of each platform holder.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re years away from knowing who this gamble will pay off for most, though. Kojima, as he tries to prove whether he can reinvent the stealth-action genre once again? Xbox and its faith in one of gaming\u2019s most influential creators at the expense of jettisoning other talent?<\/p>\n
Or PlayStation, who perhaps saw the writing on the wall well before anyone else, at the expense of appearing creatively short-sighted in the moment? I guess we\u2019ll keep waiting, huh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Microsoft’s Physint hijack is by no means a guaranteed victory, and could be Xbox’s biggest gamble yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oyun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbibetguncellgiris.icu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbibetguncellgiris.icu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbibetguncellgiris.icu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbibetguncellgiris.icu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbibetguncellgiris.icu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbibetguncellgiris.icu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbibetguncellgiris.icu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbibetguncellgiris.icu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbibetguncellgiris.icu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}