Kojima Reveals SAG Strike Affected Both OD and Physint

In a recent update, renowned game developer Hideo Kojima took to social media platform X (which you may remember as Twitter) to share some insights on the development process for his project, OD. “We managed to get a good start with actor and environment scanning for OD. But then, halfway through the year, everything came to a halt because of the SAG strike,” Kojima explained. “Casting for Physint also hit the pause button due to the strike. Our plan is to pick up where we left off next year.”

OD initially surfaced online in November 2022 under the name Overdose, before its grand reveal as an Xbox exclusive at The Game Awards a year later. During the event, Kojima, in collaboration with director Jordan Peele, offered a tantalizing glimpse of the project. Fans spotted actors like Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier taking part in an intriguing video that featured the famous Kojima Productions 3D model-scanning machine.

On the other hand, there’s this intriguing project, Physint, that remains shrouded in a bit of mystery. Known only by its working title right now, Physint is a PlayStation exclusive and marks Kojima’s anticipated return to the film-like action and espionage genre that many associate with his beloved Metal Gear series.

When asked about Physint during a State of Play broadcast in January 2024, Kojima shared, “I can’t give away too much just yet, but we’re aiming to meld the newest technology with extraordinary global talent to craft Physint. It’s interactive, but also cinematic in how it weaves together story, aesthetics, cast, and sound. With this project, we’re venturing to blur the lines between movies and video games.”

Interestingly, Kojima also mentioned in February 2024 that a personal health scare reignited his passion for creating something akin to his earlier works—a sentiment that fueled his drive to develop Physint.

The striking backdrop to this development pause is the larger industry strike that began in July 2024. Sparked by the Screen Actors Guild, this movement arose after talks with leading video game studios hit a deadlock. A key issue at stake is the protection of actors against their performances being manipulated or reused by AI technologies without their knowledge or compensation.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s executive director, articulated the union’s stance clearly: “At the heart of this is ensuring performers who contribute to games—whether through voice, stunts, or motion work—receive fair treatment. They deserve to be informed and fairly compensated whenever their likeness, voice, or performance is used. It’s really that straightforward.”