PlayStation recently announced its withdrawal from Hideo Kojima's next-generation action espionage game, "PHYSINT", with Xbox stepping in as the new publisher. This move has prompted questions about Sony's decision to end the collaboration. Analysts suggest that the sales performance of "Death Stranding 2: On the Beach" may be a key factor.
Industry analysts have weighed in:
Sony and Kojima Productions have not yet released official sales figures for "Death Stranding 2: On the Beach". However, game market data analytics firm Alinea Analytics estimates the title has sold approximately 2.5 million units to date. In comparison, the original "Death Stranding" had sold 5 million units by March 2021, with its player base later growing to 20 million; however, this figure includes subscription service users and free giveaways, which are not directly equivalent to sales.
Alinea Analytics notes that "Death Stranding 2: On the Beach" sales have significantly slowed, and multiple discounts have failed to effectively boost demand, resulting in lower revenue compared to its predecessor. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consultancy Kantan Games, also admitted in an interview with IGN that this is "certainly not a good sign."
Rhys Elliot, Head of Market Analysis at Alinea Analytics, pointed out that the rumored production cost for the first game was around $100 million, while the sequel's budget could be as high as $150 million to $200 million. He stated, "If you factor in marketing costs, and the opportunity cost of Sony deploying some personnel from its 'Horizon' series developer Guerrilla Games to assist with the original 'Death Stranding', this series has almost certainly recouped its investment, but likely just barely."
Elliot believes that the commercial failures of other high-budget titles, such as "Concord", may have made Sony more focused on profit margins. "PHYSINT" is projected to take another five to six years to complete, and its development scale could be even larger.
However, Christopher Dring, co-founder and editor-in-chief of game industry media outlet The Game Business, directly countered, "When you sign a Hideo Kojima game, it's not for the profit margins; it's for brand credibility. For Xbox, this is a brilliant win."
via： IGN