Considering it was the first project from Kojima Productions (the independent studio he started after Konami) it’s actually probable that they didn’t own the IP.
They would have needed someone like Sony and 505 to foot the bill of developing their first project, with no incoming cashflow, and those deals usually leave the publisher holding the IP.
Whats really confusing me, is that it wasn’t Sony holding the IP rights, it was 505.
It looks like maybe 505 was holding it all, giving Sony a cut of the pie for the timed console exclusive, and now sold it all back to Kojima, allowing them to do the Xbox release.
I for one am really happy that studios are wising up and buying the rights to their own stuff when its successful enough to enable them to do that, instead of letting their IP be owned by the publishers in exchange for having them bankroll development.
Studios like Kojimas and Remedy have been shopping around with multiple publishers, and owning their own IP, means they can now even more easily drop a publisher for another, if they try to sacrifice quality.
Yah I think you are right. More articles that suggest Kojima just had a 5 year deal with Sony. I could see them negotiating IP rights if sales aren’t met or something else. Just glad they own it. Must feel good. “On November 9, 2024, the five-year anniversary of the game’s launch on PlayStation 4, Kojima Productions announced that they had re-acquired the intellectual property (IP) rights to Death Stranding from Sony Interactive Entertainment, and that they had planned to bring the game to additional platforms, coinciding with the immediate launch of Director’s Cut on the Microsoft Store for Windows, Xbox Series X/S consoles, and the Amazon Luna cloud gaming service.”
It’s unclear.
Considering it was the first project from Kojima Productions (the independent studio he started after Konami) it’s actually probable that they didn’t own the IP.
They would have needed someone like Sony and 505 to foot the bill of developing their first project, with no incoming cashflow, and those deals usually leave the publisher holding the IP.
Whats really confusing me, is that it wasn’t Sony holding the IP rights, it was 505.
It looks like maybe 505 was holding it all, giving Sony a cut of the pie for the timed console exclusive, and now sold it all back to Kojima, allowing them to do the Xbox release.
I for one am really happy that studios are wising up and buying the rights to their own stuff when its successful enough to enable them to do that, instead of letting their IP be owned by the publishers in exchange for having them bankroll development.
Studios like Kojimas and Remedy have been shopping around with multiple publishers, and owning their own IP, means they can now even more easily drop a publisher for another, if they try to sacrifice quality.
Yah I think you are right. More articles that suggest Kojima just had a 5 year deal with Sony. I could see them negotiating IP rights if sales aren’t met or something else. Just glad they own it. Must feel good. “On November 9, 2024, the five-year anniversary of the game’s launch on PlayStation 4, Kojima Productions announced that they had re-acquired the intellectual property (IP) rights to Death Stranding from Sony Interactive Entertainment, and that they had planned to bring the game to additional platforms, coinciding with the immediate launch of Director’s Cut on the Microsoft Store for Windows, Xbox Series X/S consoles, and the Amazon Luna cloud gaming service.”