Bill Skarsgård will play the unnamed protagonist in Physint, Hideo Kojima’s upcoming action-espionage game, the creator announced during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2026 broadcast. The casting news comes shortly after Xbox took over publishing duties from PlayStation, which stepped away from its collaboration with Kojima Productions.
Skarsgård joins the previously announced cast of Charlee Fraser, Don Lee and Minami Hamabe. Although Physint remains years away from release, Kojima said the project was continuing to make “steady progress.”
Behind-the-scenes footage from the game’s early production premiered during the broadcast. A new poster featuring Skarsgård and Fraser also revealed the project’s tagline: “The Next Cold War Begins.”
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“I’m delighted to confirm the lead role for Physint will be Bill Skarsgård,” Kojima said. “We are both longtime fans of each other’s work, and we’ve decided to embark on this new adventure together. The costume fittings, scans, and camera tests we conducted with Bill and Charlee earlier this year gave me tremendous confidence in the direction of the project. My vision of the final form became much more solidified.”
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Skarsgård is best known for playing Pennywise in It, It: Chapter Two and It: Welcome to Derry. He has also appeared in Nosferatu, Barbarian, The Crow and John Wick: Chapter 4, as well as television series including Castle Rock and Hemlock Grove.
“Physint is the culmination of more than 40 years of my career,” Kojima added, “a project that will redefine ‘action-espionage,’ unbound by any existing genres in digital entertainment. The project conitnues to make steady progress. We’re also making progress on casting, talent scans, and collaborations with outside creators. There are still many exciting cast announcements to come in future, so please stay tuned for further updates.
“Finally, I would liek to sincerely thank all of our players, fans, and community members for tuning in and for your continued support. I would also like to thank our partners at Xbox for believing in our vision and walking this parth toward the future alongside us. We are incredibly excited about the road ahead and look forward to sharing much more with you in the future. Please stay tuned!”
An update from PlayStation Studios: After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on its project PHYSINT. We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima’s vision for the game.
Our relationship…
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 10, 2026
Physint was originally announced as a collaboration between Kojima Productions and PlayStation. Earlier this month, PlayStation Studios said it was stepping away from the project.
“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Kojima Productions on its project Physint,” PlayStation said in a statement. “We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima’s vision for the game.”
Kojima later said that Kojima Productions had received notice from PlayStation Studios in mid-June that the project would be cancelled. The studio then spent approximately three months looking for a new publishing partner before reaching an agreement with Xbox.
Xbox has now taken over publishing duties, expanding its existing relationship with Kojima Productions. Microsoft is also publishing OD, another upcoming project from the studio.
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Kojima said Xbox was a partner with whom Kojima Productions shared “a common vision for the future.”
“Please rest assured that development of PHYSINT, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward,” he said.
Kojima has described Physint as a project that will draw on more than 40 years of his career and redefine the action-espionage genre. The game is expected to be released after OD, although no release date has been announced.
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Kojima Productions is continuing work on casting, talent scans and collaborations with outside creators. More cast announcements are expected in the future.
For more, catch up on everything announced during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2026 broadcast right here.
