Summary
- Kojima Productions games OD and Physint were affected by SAG-AFTRA strikes this year, causing filming and casting delays.
- The strike is still ongoing, but Hideo Kojima has “hope” that production will be back on track next year.
- The strike is over fears surrounding generative AI usage in the gaming industry, with leading companies unable to come to an agreement with the union.
Two Kojima Productions games were affected by the SAG-AFTRA strikes this year, with casting and filming suspended. As revealed by Hideo Kojima himself, recording for OD and casting for Physint were pushed back, as actors in the gaming industry strike for improved protections against generative AI.
As spotted by Insider Gaming, Kojima shared this in a tweet earlier today. Here, Kojima recounted the past 12 months in his professional life, giving us this insight into the development of OD, Physint, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and other projects that he has in the works.
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“For OD, we developed the game and had actor and environment scanning,” explains Kojima. “In the second half of the year, scanning and filming were suspended due to the SAG strike. Casting was also suspended for Physint due to the strike. We hope to resume next year.”
We haven’t heard much about Physint, but it was announced earlier this year. It will be an action espionage game and is being made alongside PlayStation.
That’s a pretty hefty setback if filming and casting on OD and Physint respectively were set to take place at some point in the latter half of 2024. Neither game has a release date or launch window, however, so this isn’t a public delay.
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These are two more games that we know for sure have been affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike, but others will inevitably be impacted too. The strike began this summer after 18 months of negotiations with leading gaming companies failed to produce any results. If companies want SAG-AFTRA talent during this time, they must adhere to an interim agreement which protects against generative AI.
The strike is still ongoing, so it remains to be seen how Kojima Productions will resume filming and casting next year.
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