Hideo Kojima May Leave Gaming To Direct Films After Finishing His Next Project ‘Physint’

Hideo Kojima has revealed that his next game after Death Stranding 2 is tentatively titled Physint and is still years away from release. However, the prolific developer stated that he might leave the gaming industry to pursue a career in film after completing the new project.

From Game Maker to Filmmaker

In a recent interview, Hideo Kojima discussed his career and what fans can expect from him after Death Stranding 2 launches on June 26, 2025. The Japanese creator revealed that his next game, Physint, will take another five to six years to develop. It will also make a return to espionage-style gameplay. However, perhaps more interesting is that Kojima also hinted he might be ready to make the jump to filmmaking.

Here is a full translation of the interview by Genki: “Besides Death Stranding 2, there’s Physint in development. It will take me another five or six years. But maybe after that, I could finally decide to tackle a film. I grew up with cinema. Directing would be a kind of homage to it. Besides, I’m getting older, and I’d prefer to do it while still young!”

It should be noted that Hideo Kojima doesn’t say he’s leaving gaming for good. However, given that the Metal Gear Solid creator has been obsessed with films his entire career, it wouldn’t be too surprising if he decided to spend a few years in the movie industry. In fact, the vast majority of his games feature frequent references to classic cinema. So, hey—anything is possible.

hideo Kojima Has A Thumb Drive of Ideas He Will Leave Behind When He Dies

If you are wondering, how many more games can Hideo Kojima make if his next title is 5 to 6 years away? And he’s also directing films? Well, don’t worry, because according to Kojima, he’s got an interesting solution for preserving his ideas. In an interview with Edge, the developer revealed that he has a thumb drive of game concepts he will leave behind after he dies.

“I gave a USB stick with all my ideas on it to my personal assistant, kind of like a will. Perhaps they could continue to make things after I’m gone at Kojima Productions… This is a fear for me: what happens to Kojima Productions after I’m gone? I don’t want them to just manage our existing IP.”

Now, Hideo Kojima is known to say some pretty out-there things. Such as his recent idea about an “aging game” that slowly gets better with time. I mean, who wouldn’t want to wait 10 years for a game to actually get good? However, I would say that his claims about switching to filmmaking are probably his most grounded to date. If anything, he’d be a natural fit for the film industry—most of his games end up becoming vehicles for cinematic storytelling anyway. Regardless, it still looks like we have another decade of Kojima games to enjoy before then.