XBOX Project Helix LIVE: Hideo Kojima's Physint moves to XBOX from PlayStation

Hideo Kojima's Physint moves from XBOX to PlayStation

Physint, Hideo Kojima's upcoming action-espionage game which is understood to be a spiritual successor to the Metal Gear Solid series, has moved from XBOX to PlayStation after Kojima said PlayStation pulled away from the project.

Kojima, as well as XBOX's and PlayStation's official accounts, all posted updates on social media about the announcement.

Kojima said: "As confirmed earlier through our official channels, in mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the Physint project.

"Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner.

"In the course of seeking advice and pursuing negotiations with people across many fields, we found in XBOX a partner with whom we share a common vision for the future and we have decided to team up with them once again.

"Please rest assured that development of Physint, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward."

In a release on XBOX Wire, XBOX CEO Asha Sharma said: "Creators have choices about where and how they bring their ideas to life.

"We're honored that Kojima-san has chosen XBOX to work with Kojima Productions on Physint. His ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at XBOX."

PlayStation also addressed what happened too.

A social media post said: "After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Kojima Productions on its project Physint. We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima's vision for the game.

"Our relationship remains strong after three decades of industry-leading, genre-defining creative cooperation and we look forward to continued close collaboration with Hideo Kojima and his award-winning independent studio in the future."

Interesting to note, Kojima claims PlayStation stepped away in mid-June. At the start of July, when Sony announced PlayStation would stop the production of physical discs for games releasing from January 2028 onwards, even though discs will be continued to manufactured after that date for games that release before then, Kojima seemed to take a bit of a swipe at this decision on social media...

XBOX disc-to-digital rollout gets major studio on board

Ubisoft games are now available through XBOX's disc-to-digital programme.

The new scheme allows players to put physical copies of their games into XBOX Series X/S and XBOX One disc drives which then obtains a digital license for that title.

It was spotted online that Ubisoft games were not initially available for this but this now seems to have changed.

Games from some other major companies, such as Square Enix, Bandai Namco and Atlus, are not yet available but this is only the first part of the scheme's rollout so these studios, and others which may have not yet signed up, may do so later on.

XBOX disc-to-digital rollout not off to best start

It seems XBOX's rollout of its new disc-to-digital scheme is not off to the best start as it's been spotted on social media a number of publishers have not yet signed up to it.

The new scheme allows players to put physical copies of their games into XBOX Series X/S and XBOX One disc drives which then obtains a digital license for that title.

The aim is to make player libraries more readily available across different devices instead of having to play their games on just the one console.

But while XBOX CEO Asha Sharma confirmed thousands of games are already included, titles from some of the biggest publishers are not yet available.

It's been spotted Ubisoft has not yet signed up and others include Square Enix, Bandai Namco and Atlus.

To note, this is only the first part of the scheme's rollout so these studios, and others which may have not yet signed up, may do so later on.

XBOX Project Helix will be more than just one console

XBOX CEO Asha Sharma has said Project Helix will be more than just the one console.

Speaking to BBC at Gamescom, she said: "We're not sharing more on Helix, I know you had to ask it [about the console having a disc drive].

"But look, we've been hard at work on a great next generation and a great family of devices for Helix and we'll share more soon."

So it seems there's likely to be a number of devices that come under the Project Helix umbrella, perhaps similar to the speculated accompanying handheld console to the PS6.