Death Stranding Franchise Likely Barely Broke Even, Could Explain Sony Dropping Physint – Analyst
Overview & Key Takeaways
With Sony no longer involved in the production of Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor, Physint, people are wondering why the PlayStation company decided to part ways with the veteran game designer's upcoming game. Xbox has stepped in to rescue the project, resulting in a rare win for Sony's rival. At the same time, Sony is weathering a PR storm brought on by its decision to kill game discs, rising console prices, and more.
Why would it take another loss in the court of public opinion? Reportedly, Kojima's recent games haven't been big earners for Sony, which could be why Sony decided to cease funding for Physint.
According to a Bloomberg report, people familiar with the project have expressed concerns about Physint's development, as it has reportedly missed deadlines and could be going over budget. With Physint potentially being a timed exclusive for PlayStation, it's claimed that the company was reluctant to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a game it would not own.
Alinea Analytics' Rhys Elliott also weighed in on the situation, saying, "From a strictly financial perspective, though, I can understand Sony's position. In a vacuum, anyway. PR and optics still matter. Ballpark math: word on the street is that the first Death Stranding cost about $100 million to make, and the second somewhere in the $150 million – $200 million ballpark (longer dev cycle, COVID, and all that). Depending on marketing overhead and the opportunity cost of pulling those Guerrilla developers onto Death Stranding, the franchise has almost certainly broken even--but not by much."
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As Elliott explained, Sony is becoming increasingly cautious of which projects it funds, as it has experienced several high-profile flops in the PS5 era.
"Margins are the name of the game now," Elliott added, suggesting that recent key misses from PlayStation Studios have made the company more cautious over which big-budget projects it backs. "Over the past few years, scares like Concord (cancelled, $300 million+ down the drain) and softer sales from the likes of Marathon (1.8M sold), Saros ($61 million), Marvel Tokon (725K, $49 million), and Lego Horizon Adventures (under 250K across Steam and PS5, $11 million) seem to be making PlayStation more wary."
As for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Elliott reported that the game has sold 2.5 million copies since launch, across PS5 and PC. Of those sales, 1.8 million were on PS5 and 700,000 came from PC, resulting in $170 million in revenue. And that's probably not good enough for Sony, considering the lengthy development time for the game and the costs of featuring several celebrities in it. To make matters worse, Death Stranding 2 sales have reportedly slowed massively since launch, even with the game discounted to $40.
"Meanwhile, the original Death Stranding has sold about 5 million copies at this point in its lifecycle--though it did have some deep discounts down to $20 in that window," Elliott added.
All of this adds up to what could be a very disappointing investment for Sony, as it published the two Death Stranding games. After a decade, Kojima Productions has released two games that have generated around $413 million in revenue, with the sequel being noticeably less successful than the first. That total is nothing to sneeze at, but considering that Sony as a whole made over $80 billion in revenue during its 2025 financial year, Kojima's games aren't contributing a whole lot to those numbers.
Parting ways with Kojima will likely save Sony money in the interim, but it's not a good look for the company at a time when its reputation continues to take a beating. Xbox pledging to support Physint is a big PR win for Microsoft's gaming division, and a move that could be more valuable as the brand aims to recapture the momentum it once had.
With Sony no longer involved in the production of Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor, Physint, people are wondering why the PlayStation company decided to part ways with the veteran game designer’s upcoming game. Xbox has stepped in to rescue the project, resulting in a rare win for Sony’s rival. At the same time, Sony is weathering a PR storm brought on by its decision to kill game discs, rising console prices, and more.
Why would it take another loss in the court of public opinion? Reportedly, Kojima’s recent games haven’t been big earners for Sony, which could be why Sony decided to cease funding for Physint.
According to a Bloomberg report, people familiar with the project have expressed concerns about Physint’s development, as it has reportedly missed deadlines and could be going over budget. With Physint potentially being a timed exclusive for PlayStation, it’s claimed that the company was reluctant to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a game it would not own.
Alinea Analytics’ Rhys Elliott also weighed in on the situation, saying, “From a strictly financial perspective, though, I can understand Sony’s position. In a vacuum, anyway. PR and optics still matter. Ballpark math: word on the street is that the first Death Stranding cost about $100 million to make, and the second somewhere in the $150 million – $200 million ballpark (longer dev cycle, COVID, and all that). Depending on marketing overhead and the opportunity cost of pulling those Guerrilla developers onto Death Stranding, the franchise has almost certainly broken even–but not by much.”
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As Elliott explained, Sony is becoming increasingly cautious of which projects it funds, as it has experienced several high-profile flops in the PS5 era.
“Margins are the name of the game now,” Elliott added, suggesting that recent key misses from PlayStation Studios have made the company more cautious over which big-budget projects it backs. “Over the past few years, scares like Concord (cancelled, $300 million+ down the drain) and softer sales from the likes of Marathon (1.8M sold), Saros ($61 million), Marvel Tokon (725K, $49 million), and Lego Horizon Adventures (under 250K across Steam and PS5, $11 million) seem to be making PlayStation more wary.”
As for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Elliott reported that the game has sold 2.5 million copies since launch, across PS5 and PC. Of those sales, 1.8 million were on PS5 and 700,000 came from PC, resulting in $170 million in revenue. And that’s probably not good enough for Sony, considering the lengthy development time for the game and the costs of featuring several celebrities in it. To make matters worse, Death Stranding 2 sales have reportedly slowed massively since launch, even with the game discounted to $40.
“Meanwhile, the original Death Stranding has sold about 5 million copies at this point in its lifecycle–though it did have some deep discounts down to $20 in that window,” Elliott added.
All of this adds up to what could be a very disappointing investment for Sony, as it published the two Death Stranding games. After a decade, Kojima Productions has released two games that have generated around $413 million in revenue, with the sequel being noticeably less successful than the first. That total is nothing to sneeze at, but considering that Sony as a whole made over $80 billion in revenue during its 2025 financial year, Kojima’s games aren’t contributing a whole lot to those numbers.
Parting ways with Kojima will likely save Sony money in the interim, but it’s not a good look for the company at a time when its reputation continues to take a beating. Xbox pledging to support Physint is a big PR win for Microsoft’s gaming division, and a move that could be more valuable as the brand aims to recapture the momentum it once had.
