An update to the PlayStation Studios banner hints that Kojima Productions may have been acquired by Sony. But that’s not the only clue…
Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, has made it clear: PlayStation will be making further studio buyouts. What if one of them was Hideo Kojima’s studio, Kojima Productions? Internet users have made a strange discovery. Explanations.
Kojima Productions, the next PlayStation Studios?
A few hours ago, user Toumari pointed out on the ResetERA forums that Sony had retouched their PlayStation Studios banner in a rather bizarre way. The Concrete Genie hero (far left), who represents the Pixel Opus studio, is replaced by Sam Porter Bridges. Norman Reedus’ character in Death Stranding, the latest PS4, PS5 and PC game from Kojima Productions.
The new banner is called “ps-studios-banner-hero-desktop-01-en-15feb22”as notified by the twittos Pyo, confirming the very recent change. And on this one, we only see PlayStation studios and heroes : Ellie from The Last of Us (Naughty Dog), Kratos from God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio) as well as Returnal (Housemarque) and Demon’s Souls (Bluepoint Games). Except the latter two were only entitled to a sticker after their respective buyouts. For some, the image of Death Stranding could therefore mark the entry of Kojima Productions into the PlayStation Studios family.
A sudden move
The other element that would go in the direction of a takeover is the recent move of Kojima Productions.
A few days later, Hideo Kojima published a snapshot of visibly new and not quite finished premises. And obviously, they would (still) be located very close to the headquarters of SIE Japan. In the past, we have already seen other PlayStation studios get the same preferential treatment…
Should we believe it? Yes
It’s no secret that Hideo Kojima is very close to the Japanese manufacturer. Following his eviction from Konami, it was towards PlayStation that the creator headed to get back in the saddle. Kojima-san has also teased multiple projects for 2022, but it’s unclear who is funding them. Rumors are rife and Death Stranding 2 could be one of them if Norman Reedus is to be believed. A project that could only be edited by Sony, since it is the owner of the IP.
In November 2021, Hideo Kojima opened a new division dedicated to films, series and television in Los Angeles. Well-known sectors of Sony and that is getting to know PlayStation Productions with its video game adaptations. A rapprochement between the two at this level would make a lot of sense. PSVR 2 could also be a playground for Kojima-san.
Finally, we also remember that PS Japan had already leaked a redemption a little too early. So many tracks that make the thing believable.
Should we believe it? Nope
Still, Sony may have swapped Concrete Genie for Death Stranding to have something stronger from a marketing standpoint. Basically, it remains a sufficiently popular console PS exclusive, much more than Concrete Genie despite all the qualities of the latter. And then even being independent, Hermen Hulst considers Kojima Productions as a PlayStation Studios:
You know, these partnerships are really interesting. I guess you can make a distinction between development teams that are part of Sony, like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Media Molecule, Sucker Punch, etc., and development teams that work with us as partners… Haven, Firewalk, not to mention the teams we’ve worked with over the years, like Kojima Productions and From Software. But for me, there is not really a difference. It’s all PlayStation Studios.
Finally, there is this rumor of an xCloud game with Xbox which has been dragging on for quite some time and which would put the lead in the wing to the theory of a takeover… Unless Sony offers a deal “to Bungie where Kojima Productions would be allowed to go cross-platform. At least initially.