Following the release of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Hideo Kojima has been hard at work expanding the Death Stranding universe and developing the highly anticipated horror title, OD. However, another of his projects that sparked some buzz is Physint, a collaboration between Kojima Productions and PlayStation that marks his highly anticipated return to the action-espionage genre.
While we don’t have many details since development has barely just begun, we already know some of the cast. True to Kojima’s style, the roster features Hollywood talent, including Charlee Fraser, Don Lee, and Minami Hamabe. Kojima has also noted that further casting, scanning, and performance capture for the title would kick off later this year.
That process appears to be well underway, as we’ve spotted some brand-new casting details that further confirm the character roster is moving forward and that performance capture should be kicking off very soon.
Casting Calls for Physint Delve into the Action Espionage Genre
These new casting calls offer a bit of insight into the project, revealing the internal codename for casting purposes to be “Shimmer.” It’s also revealed that Mari Ueda will be the casting director. Ueda is the founder of the motion capture company Pivot Motion, which recently got to work with Kojima on his latest game, Death Stranding 2.
As for the content of the casting call, while it doesn’t reveal really anything mindblowing, it helps us picture the kind of title Kojima is going for and definitely reinforces his return to his action-espionage roots. Still, because development is in such an early stage, we should remember that these specifics are prone to changing or being scrapped in their entirety before the game’s release, so keep that in mind.
The calls are looking to fill the roles of multiple passengers on a hijacked bus. Among them are a mother holding her newborn baby, five teenagers of different ethnicities, two other male passengers, and lastly, an antagonistic character with a German accent. Out of these characters, the one that stands out is definitely the villainous type. Interestingly, the role’s reference description is “Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal but with flair”, a nod to an actor we’ve already seen working with Kojima. A few other small details are provided, noting his complexion is slim, and his personality is quiet but “intense” and “confident in a psychotic way.”
There’s a strong emphasis on the German accent requirement, which makes us wonder where the setting could be, though it’s hard to conclude much with so few details. Still, chances are that this role isn’t for the main villain but rather a minor antagonist, as an open casting call would be irregular for the type of Hollywood A-listers Kojima tends to cast for lead roles.
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It’s also worth noting that, because we haven’t even seen a trailer yet for obvious reasons, this casting work could be for an early vertical slice meant to establish the game’s tone, or perhaps for a specific action-heavy sequence being prepared for a future reveal trailer.
Shooting for Shimmer is scheduled to start around June of this year, which gives us a rough idea of when we could see the game. Spoiler alert: it won’t be anytime soon. For reference, motion capture work for Death Stranding 2 didn’t start until 2022, and the game was released three years later.
However, Physint is looking to be a much more ambitious work. Back in May 2025, Kojima told the French magazine Le Film Français that the project would take him at least “another five or six years.” Given that timeline, it is safe to assume we are looking at a release window of 2030 or 2031, making Physint a title almost certainly aimed at the PlayStation 6.
It will clearly be a long wait before we see the spiritual successor to the Metal Gear franchise in all its glory. In the meantime, we are likely much closer to seeing Kojima’s horror partnership with Xbox, OD, a project as equally ambitious that aims to resurrect the same brand of bone-chilling horror seen in his defunct Silent Hills P.T. project while collaborating with Hollywood heavyweights like Jordan Peele.
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