Kojima Casts Bill Skarsgard as the Lead of Physint — the Game PlayStation Walked Away From

At Tokyo Game Show, Hideo Kojima appeared during Xbox's broadcast with updates on OD – KNOCK and Physint, and one concrete piece of news: Bill Skarsgard will play the lead role in Physint.

The Swedish actor — best known as Pennywise in the It films — appears on a new poster for the game alongside Charlee Fraser.

The timing

Six days ago, Bloomberg reported that PlayStation dropped Physint, citing a growing budget, missed deadlines, a project still years from completion, and the commercial performance of Death Stranding and its sequel falling short of PlayStation's revenue expectations. Xbox picked up the game, along with film and TV rights for both Physint and OD.

Physint was announced by PlayStation, on a PlayStation stage, at the 31 January 2024 State of Play, with PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst standing next to Kojima.

Two and a half years later, the first real casting announcement for that game happened during an Xbox broadcast.

What was not announced

Worth being precise, because this will get inflated: Xbox's recap confirms the casting and the poster. It gives no platforms and no release window for Physint. Anyone telling you otherwise today is guessing.

The read

A star attached is the clearest signal yet that Physint is a going concern rather than a project in limbo — and that the money behind it is now Microsoft's. For PlayStation owners, the practical upshot has not changed since last week: a game Sony revealed as its own is not coming to their console, and the first thing the new owner did with it was put a recognisable face on the poster.

Kojima's relationship with PlayStation produced Death Stranding, its sequel, and a decade of exclusives. This is what the next chapter looks like from the outside.