PlayStation Studios Could Be Acquiring Kojima Productions, As Death Stranding Has Been Added To First-Party Banner

PlayStation Studios already has a stellar roster of first-party games and studios, but they might be adding just another heavyweight to their stable.

(Photo : Olly Curtis/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Detail of the logo on a Sony PlayStation 5 home video game console, taken on October 29, 2020

Recently, somebody spotted Death Stranding being included in the PlayStation Studios' banner image. First spotted by ResetEra user Toumari, this has fueled intense speculation that PlayStation could be well on its way to acquiring Kojima Productions.

This isn't far out of the blue as Sony has already said it is looking to acquire more studios to boost its first-party arsenal, writes PlayStationLifestyle. But acquiring Kojima Productions could be their latest, considering that Death Stranding, the studio's latest game, just joined other big names in the banner like Santa Monica's God of War, Naughty Dog's The Last Of Us, and Insomniac's Ratchet & Clank, to name a few.

Here is the new studio banner as tweeted by Twitter user Hunter:

According to GameRant, Death Stranding replaced the image from PixelOpus' Concrete Genie. With this stealthy move, the only indie game from the studio banner was revealed and it is now almost all AAA from here on out. But so far, neither Sony nor Kojima Productions have commented on the possible acquisition.

Is Kojima Productions Actually For Sale?

One wrench to throw into the wheel spokes of this deal is the fact that there is nothing, not even a vague hint, which points to Kojima Productions being on the market in the first place. Furthermore, there are also rumors that the legendary game designer is working on an exclusive game with Xbox, not PlayStation.

Read also: Activision Blizzard Names Kristen Hines as DEI Chief to Expand Diversity in Games

Last year, hearsay floating around the web suggested that Kojima is close to inking an exclusivity deal with Xbox for his next game. According to VentureBeat, both Microsoft and Kojima's camp spent several months last year ironing out the details of a partnership, but talks still haven't produced anything substantial as of this writing.

If these rumors are true (and if a deal is still in place), then it could indicate that Kojima Productions is actually not going to be acquired by PlayStation Studios soon. But then again, the rumor has neither been confirmed nor denied by Sony or Kojima's camp, so the potential acquisition is still up in the air.

The Banner Change Could Mean Something Different

Shortly after leaving Konami, Hideo Kojima has kept in touch with Sony and PlayStation Studios since. For one, Death Stranding was published by Sony firsthand, with the IP actually owned by the electronics giant.

This means that even if the studio doesn't get bought out, the IPs they produce can still be considered first-party games. According to Tech Times, this is what happened with Insomniac Games. Their two biggest IPs in Ratchet & Clank and Spider-Man are considered first-party titles, but the studio itself is a second-party developer, as per Insomniac themselves.

This is a developing story.

Related: PS5 Controller Could Adopt an Increased PC Support Soon, New Leak Suggests

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Written by RJ Pierce