{
  "id": 6779696,
  "title": "Goodwill Hunting: Consoles’ brand value and loyalty is being tested | Opinion",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/goodwill-hunting-consoles-brand-value-and-loyalty-is-being-tested",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-11T16:28:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "GamesIndustry",
    "slug": "gamesindustry",
    "url": "https://www.gamesindustry.biz/goodwill-hunting-consoles-brand-value-and-loyalty-is-being-tested-opinion"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As the race for next-generation consoles heats up, Sony and Microsoft are facing an important decision: their next-gen hardware will likely come with a hefty price tag. This is a tough sell for any company, as gaming is a discretionary market and consumers are sensitive to price. To overcome this hurdle, both companies will need to rely heavily on their existing goodwill with customers.\n\nThe recent news surrounding Hideo Kojima's game Physint provides a clear window into this dilemma. Originally announced at a Sony State of Play event, the game was to be a major collaboration between Kojima and Sony, with Sony's Columbia Pictures division involved. However, this week, Kojima Productions announced that Sony had dropped the project, and Xbox Game Studios quickly stepped in to secure publishing rights.\n\nOn the surface, there are two plausible explanations for this move. First, Sony may have decided that the likely budget for Physint, combined with the relatively poor commercial performance of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, was too high to justify. Second, Xbox saw Kojima's name and the potential blockbuster status of Physint as a stronger commercial bet than the more experimental Death Stranding.\n\nWhile the commercial calculation may have been sound in Xbox's case, the optics of dropping an original IP developed by one of the most renowned game developers and handing it to their competitor are not ideal. Dropping a high-profile game from Kojima and allowing their rival to pick it up could damage Sony's goodwill with consumers. Furthermore, Sony has faced some challenges in recent years, including the fallout from its pivot to live-service development and the disappointing game lineup for the PS5. These negative experiences could further erode goodwill.\n\nWhile Physint won't single-handedly determine whether Sony or Microsoft makes the right decision for their next-gen consoles, this incident does offer a glimpse into the cracks in the wall of goodwill these companies will need to rely on. As the countdown to next-gen continues, both companies will need to use all of their resources to maintain and rebuild that goodwill with customers.",
  "summary": "There’s a really important piece of context that looms behind every decision, every announcement, and every news story about PlayStation or Xbox at the moment. It’s a ticking clock; a countdown to the moment when Sony and Microsoft are going to have to start talking about their next-generation hardware – and begin the process of convincing the world that an almost certainly astronomical price…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}