Legendary video game designer Hideo Kojima has publicly described the abrupt end of his decades-long publishing relationship with Sony, saying the company informed him it was walking away from his upcoming stealth-action game "Physint" during a June video call and never offered a reason for the decision.

Speaking to The Washington Post through an interpreter, Kojima said he was "shocked and surprised" by Sony's decision, which was made public earlier this month. A Sony Interactive Entertainment representative delivered the news during a June video call attended by Kojima, his translator Aki Saito, and Kojima Productions president Shinji Hirano, according to reporting on the meeting. Kojima had been partnered with Sony since leaving Konami and founding his own independent studio more than a decade earlier, making the sudden end of that relationship especially unexpected.

In a separate interview with IGN, Kojima elaborated further on what happened during the call, describing it as Sony's "final notice" on the project. Asked whether Sony had since offered any explanation for pulling out of "Physint," Kojima was direct. "No, not at all. They haven't contacted me ever since," he said. Kojima acknowledged he did not press Sony extensively for reasons during the call itself, saying his attention shifted immediately to the practical........

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