“For overdosewe developed the game and scanned the actors and the environment,” Kojima said via X (formerly Twitter). “In the second half of the year, digitization and filming were suspended due to the SAG strike. Casting was also suspended due to Physint due to the strike. We hope to resume next year.”
Early game footage overdose – known at the time as Overdose – appeared online in November 2022 before the Xbox exclusive was officially revealed a year later at The Game Awards. Kojima previewed the project alongside director and collaborator Jordan Peele with a video featuring actors Sophia Lillis (He, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), Hunter Schafer (Euphoria, Cuckoo), and Udo Kier (Hunters, Bacurau) reciting a pangram on what appears to be Kojima Productions' famous 3D model scanning machine.
Even less is known about Physintwhich in itself is a working title. The game, a PlayStation exclusive, is apparently intended to be Kojima's return to the espionage action cinematic style he established with the Metal Gear series.
“I can't tell you much right now,” Kojima said when announcing the project during a State of Play broadcast in January 2024, “but we plan to bring together cutting-edge technology and talent from around the world to create [Physint]. Of course, it's an interactive game, but it's also a movie at the same time, in terms of look, story, theme, cast, acting, fashion and sound. With this title we hope to transcend the barrier between films and video games.”
Kojima also explained his motivations for making Physint in February 2024, and said he was inspired to return to his roots after a health scare.
The strike currently affecting overdose and Physint Development, as well as other parts of the video game industry, formally began in July 2024. Organized by the Screen Actors Guild after negotiations between the union and several major video game studios failed, the main concern of the strike is AI protection for actors who are at risk of having their performances recycled through generative technology without payment or approval.
“The bottom line is that if you have artists working for you, helping you create your game content, whether it's voice content, whether it's stunt work, whether it's motion work… all of those artists deserve to have the right to get informed consent. and fair compensation for the use of your image, likeness or voice, your performance,” SAG-AFTRA CEO Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said at the time. “It's that simple.”