Kojima’s rumored Xbox project reportedly “still on” amid Sony acquisition theories

Earlier today, people noticed that Sony’s PlayStation Studios banner had been updated to feature Death Stranding, kicking off speculation that it has bought out the game’s developer, Kojima Productions. However, there have also been rumors of studio founder Hideo Kojima partnering with Microsoft on a project for Xbox. Assuming both instances are true, does this mean Kojima’s Xbox project is dead in the water?

Apparently, that’s not necessarily the case. In his most recent GrubbSnax podcast (transcribed by VGC), VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb claimed that, as of a couple of weeks ago, the Xbox deal was “still on.” He added, “This isn’t based on the information I had last year, this is more recent than that.”

In that case, Sony couldn’t have bought out Kojima Productions, right? Well, Grubb doesn’t dispute that possibility either, saying “Does this mean that PlayStation couldn’t have acquired Kojima Productions? Not necessarily.”

It’s possible that, even if Sony has bought Kojima’s studio, it would have to allow Kojima to continue working with Microsoft since their deal would have been made before the buy-out. Similar to how Microsoft had to uphold the deal for Bethesda’s Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo to release first for PlayStation despite buying out Bethesda.

Sony acquiring Kojima Productions is entirely possible given its close working relationship with Kojima. Plus, in the wake of its acquisition of Bungie, Sony said that more would follow.