{"id":2138449,"date":"2026-09-10T18:00:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2138449"},"modified":"2026-09-10T18:00:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:00:41","slug":"why-did-playstation-ditch-kojima-analysts-suggest-sony-may-have-been-spooked-by-death-stranding-2-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2138449","title":{"rendered":"Why Did PlayStation Ditch Kojima? Analysts Suggest Sony May Have Been ‘Spooked’ by Death Stranding 2 Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the dust settles on PlayStation’s bombshell announcement that it has ditched Physint<\/a>, an ambitious-sounding next-gen project from legendary Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, analysts are now discussing why Sony may have walked away.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Physint<\/a> will, of course, remain in production \u2014 though now backed by PlayStation’s archrival Xbox, in a significant and much-needed PR win for Microsoft’s gaming division.<\/p>\n

Sony, meanwhile, is being seen as backtracking on yet another big public moment \u2014 this time, the enthusiastic handshake between PlayStation Studios boss Herman Hulst and Kojima that heralded Physint’s announcement \u2014 even as fan complaints continue over PlayStation’s disc-killing initiative, and disquiet over the shutdown of Destiny 2 development.<\/p>\n

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Why risk further backlash? For Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese games industry consultancy firm Kantan Games, sales of Kojima’s most recent title Death Stranding 2: On the Beach<\/a> may be to blame.<\/p>\n

“Kojima games have a strong platform marketing halo effect and are not about sales alone, but it seems the steep drop-off from DS1 to DS2 spooked Sony enough to cut him off,” Toto wrote<\/a> in a post on X\/Twitter this morning. <\/p>\n

Direct comparison between Death Stranding 1 and 2 is difficult as official sales for the latter were never announced by Sony or Kojima Productions “This is of course not a good sign,” Toto noted, speaking to IGN.<\/p>\n

Today, a fresh sales estimate from Alinea Analytics has pegged Death Stranding 2 at 2.5 million copies. This is a far cry from the number of players who tried the original Death Stranding \u2014 around 20 million, but there are caveats here. <\/p>\n

Here’s what we know for certain: that Death Stranding 1 had sold <\/em>5 million copies by March 2021, and had 20 million players <\/em>by March 2025 \u2014 a figure that includes those who accessed the game via subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, or who claimed it free via Epic Game Store promotions. In July this year, Kojima Productions stated that the Death Stranding franchise had reached a cumulative 27 million players across both games. <\/p>\n

Sales analysis, again from Alinea, suggests that Death Stranding 2 sales have now slowed to a trickle, that several notable discounts on the game have failed to move the needle, and that revenue for the game remains lower than that of its predecessor.<\/p>\n

The picture that emerges here is one of a sequel that failed to build upon or even match the sales and reach established by Death Stranding 1. Perhaps this was enough to “spook” Sony, as Toto suggested, especially as both projects feel like lavish productions, with lengthy development cycles and Hollywood stars in key roles.<\/p>\n