Hideo Kojima Wears Joy Division T-Shirt on Sony Visit, Prompting Comparisons to Johnny Silverhand and Arasaka Tower
Hideo Kojima Posts Photos of Himself Visiting Sony in Japan Wearing a Joy Division T-Shirt, and Fans Are Sure to Enjoy It
Hideo Kojima posted pictures on social media of himself visiting Sony in Japan wearing a Joy Division t-shirt - and fans are sure to have a blast.
The Metal Gear creator posted photos on social media showing him standing outside Sony City, also known as the Sony Corporation office building, in Tokyo, Japan. It's usually nothing to write home about, but given recent events, there's plenty of context to take advantage of.
Earlier this year, Sony dropped Physint, the spiritual successor to Kojima's Metal Gear, leaving the legendary gamer scrambling to find another publisher for the project. In an interview with IGN, Kojima revealed how he fears for the future of Kojima's productions after confirming Sony's decision via Zoom call.
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) October 13, 2026
Kojima introduced Physint to Microsoft and the game's new head, Asha Sharma, who were impressed with the project's success, including film and television adaptations. In the wake of Physint's move to Xbox, Bloomberg reported that Sony had concerns about the success of Kojima's Death Stranding, as well as Physint's development timeline, budget, and platform strategy. Kojima Productions issued a statement in response, though it could not directly address Bloomberg's report.
Make no mistake, this was a serious situation for the studio with considerable potential. Kojima Productions said: "While we know this article may have raised alarm bells, we want to reassure you all: the studio is in a healthy and profitable position, Physint development continues to move forward with Xbox, and our relationship with PlayStation remains strong."
In our interview, Kojima insisted that there is no bad blood with Sony, saying, “…for my part, I love Sony. And I don't feel bad for them because I know it's a tough time in the gaming industry. I have been working with them for about 30 years... Mr. Ken Kotaragi, Mr. Hirai, I was close with them. But not so recently. I realized that, well, that's the reality. It is the 10th anniversary of my studio. My studio might be gone, right?”
Kojima added that Sony has not provided a reason for canceling Physint and has not contacted him since the decision. "But I'm not arguing with Sony," he continued. We have no differences. But what I want to say is that we have been together for 30 years and we have this relationship. So if that was the conclusion, I wanted to hear it a little sooner. But at that meeting in June, they just gave us the final notice.
"Like I said, my mind went blank, so I didn't really ask a lot of questions. It was more like, what am I going to do with my company? So that's what was on my mind at the time. I've always been a big Sony fan. I used a Walkman. All my cameras are Sony. So I don't feel bad about them."
Fast forward four months, and we have Kojima visiting Sony. What should we make of this? Are the pair working together on a secret project? Is there more to Death Stranding? Or is it… nothing? Either way, fans are applauding Kojima's decision to wear a Joy Division t-shirt, comparing it to Johnny Silverhand's ill-fated attack on Arasaka Tower in Cyberpunk 2077.
— Bucky | Palworld (@Bucky_cm) October 13, 2026
@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN @Kojima_Hideo
— elián 🍊 (@elianrepatriate) October 13, 2026
After Physint broke the news, there was intense speculation about the game's budget. In a recent New York Times profile by Asha Sharma, it's reported that Xbox may have negotiated a lower price than you'd expect for the spiritual successor to the franchise's creator's Metal Gear Solid trilogy.
Kojima told IGN that Microsoft is "not thinking about financing a game. They think of movies and animation. It's more about IP. Let's create a new IP. And so to speak, it is larger in scale. And a lot of publishers or game developers don't have that view anymore."
Physint remains without a release window. After the release of OD, Kojima's next video game for Xbox is expected.
Wesley is the managing editor of IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at @wesley_yinpoole or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.