Hideo Kojima opens up about his personal journey battling an illness that motivated him to make his new action-espionage game "Physint." Read on to learn more about the revelation the renowned game developer made.
Hideo Kojima Shares His Journey in Making Physint and Other Projects
"I was at my lowest"
Hideo Kojima disclosed on his YouTube show "HideoTube" that during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he fell critically ill. He further shared that, on top of the isolation brought about by the pandemic, he underwent surgery for his illness. "I thought, ‘I can’t anymore’. I was at my lowest and felt like I couldn’t go back to making games. I wrote a will, too."
Reflecting on this, Kojima had an epiphany about life––that people do eventually meet their death. "And in that moment, I realized that people die. But, I turned 60 last year. I’ll turn 70 in ten years. I hope to never retire," Kojima said. This inspired him to take on another new project that his fans have been clamoring for and make the action-espionage game "Physint".
Kojima described Physint as being the culmination of his four-decade-long gaming career. Contrary to the speculation about a new Metal Gear game, Physint will be "both a game and a movie at the same time." Kojima added, "If your mother walks in and sees you playing this game, she’ll think you’re watching a movie."
Kojima Finds Renewed Purpose
Speaking of movies, Kojima revealed that he has received many requests from Hollywood to work on projects, however, Kojima had refused them. Kojima felt tethered to his own company, Kojima Productions, and said he simply could not leave what he had built.
He shared, "Because I have my own company now, I can’t leave for 1 or 2 years to go make a movie. The company would collapse. I was in a tough spot." He confided with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, and the Academy Award-winning director told Kojima that what he’s been working on is "already a movie" and encouraged him to keep going as he does. "His words saved me," Kojima said.
In addition to Physint, Kojima announced several other projects in the previous months, including a Death Stranding movie in collaboration with film studio A24, Death Standing's sequel, "Death Stranding 2: On the Beach," for PS5 set to release in 2025, and a horror game franchise titled "OD" in collaboration with director Jordan Peele for Xbox Game Studios.
