Microsoft Could Publish Kojima Productions Next Title – Report

Microsoft is looking to secure publishing rights to Hideo Kojima's next title, according to a report from VentureBeat.

According to the report, Xbox hopes to secure a deal from Kojima Productions in order to break ground with Japanese developers that have traditionally been reticent of working with the company.

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Microsoft Could Publish Kojima Productions Next Title – Report

As per VentureBeat, the Kojima Productions mascot, Ludens, appeared behind Phil Spencer in a recent presentation as a teaser.

The report follows the announcement of a cinematic first-person horror title called Abandoned, from Netherlands-based developer Blue Box Game Studios.

The studio's short history, and the game's desolate tone, had caused people to speculate that the game could be secretly in development by Kojima Productions. If that sounds like a leap in logic, then it's worth remembering Kojima invented Moby Dick Studio, a Swedish-based developer, that was working on The Phantom Pain – which later turned out to be Metal Gear Solid V.

In an interview last month with AI Hub, Yoji Shinkawa suggested that whatever the studio is working on could be announced soon.

“Well yeah, I am doing something, for sure, and I could tell you probably that we can announce it quite soon," the longtime Kojima collaborator explained.

As for a potential Xbox deal, it would be a sizeable coup for Microsoft. While Death Stranding, Kojima Productions' first title since gaining independence from Konami, was published by 505 Games on PC, it remains a PlayStation console exclusive having been originally published by Sony.

In fact, the game is built from the Decima engine that powers the likes of Horizon: Zero Dawn and its upcoming sequel.

Only yesterday we reported on Microsoft's publishing arm having some "interesting partnerships" in the pipeline.