The Real Reason Sony Dropped Kojima

Overview

Sony’s reported breakup with Hideo Kojima is being framed as a business-and-performance decision, rather than purely a personal rift. The core claims include:

• Reported reason for Sony dropping Kojima: Journalist Jason Schreier is cited as reporting that Sony ended its work with Kojima (and his upcoming game Fisant) because it was significantly over budget and years away from release—an unacceptable risk for the company.
• Sony’s recent financial/revenue pressure: The discussion links the decision to Death Stranding 1 and 2 underperforming relative to PlayStation revenue expectations, implying Kojima’s next project was viewed as another costly gamble.
• Strategic platform/publishing concerns: It’s suggested Sony wasn’t planning a broad PC/Xbox publishing approach, while Xbox would be more inclined to pursue that strategy—making Xbox the more natural “savior” for the project from a business standpoint.
• Broader criticism of Sony’s leadership and priorities: Multiple speakers argue Sony mishandles strategy—continuing to fund or mismanage expensive ventures (e.g., Concord, Marathon, live-service spending) while cutting an established “name” like Kojima. This is presented as hypocrisy and PR damage.
• Emotional/credibility angle: Speakers claim Sony initially tried to describe the situation as the relationship remaining strong, while Kojima allegedly contradicted that publicly—fueling accusations of scummy or dishonest messaging.

Performance and budget arguments (Death Stranding)

There’s extensive speculation and numerical comparison:

• Death Stranding 1 is described as roughly 5+ million copies across PS4/PC.
• Death Stranding 2 is described as roughly half that (~2.5 million).
• Budgets are cited as approximately $150M for DS1 and $300M for DS2, with discussion that overall marketing/development spending was very high.
• The takeaway: doubling budget while sales fell is treated as the warning sign Sony is responding to—especially for a future game described as a Metal Gear-style “spiritual successor.”

Why not cancel other Sony projects/IPs?

One contributor argues Sony can cancel Kojima’s work more easily because it doesn’t own Kojima’s IP, unlike internally owned franchises (e.g., Destiny- or Horizon-like content). Another point raised is that Sony may prioritize “owned” projects and manage studio risk differently.

Xbox as the beneficiary

The video’s narrative emphasizes that as Sony pulls back, Xbox can absorb the project and its associated risk—which is why the news is framed as “Xbox swooped in.”

Overall framing

The commentary blends:

• Transactional business reasoning (overbudget, delayed release, underperformance), with
• Hard criticism of Sony’s leadership, PR failures, and shifting away from what viewers expect from PlayStation.

Presenters / contributors

• Jason Schreier (reporter referenced in the subtitles)
• Vera (speaker)
• Phoenix (speaker)
• Gregory (briefly mentioned by name; speaker not clearly identifiable beyond the segment)