“But the number one priority is my staff. We have about 200 people, and I expanded because we had Physint. […] I didn't want to do the same thing we did for P.T.”
When SIE withdrew funding for Physint, Kojima feared he might have to let the project team go or that the studio could run out of cash: OD and Physint were its only two projects, he had expanded the staff to about two hundred people because of Physint, and the company had bank loans. His priority became protecting the employees, scanned actors and artists already involved; he said he did not want to repeat what happened with P.T.
“If we lose one contract, I thought I might have to cut all the people working on Physint, right? Or our studio could end up collapsing because we’ll run out of cashflow. […] I’ve borrowed money from the bank for funding as well. […] But the number one priority is my staff. We have about 200 people, and I expanded because we had Physint. […] I’ve also begun scanning actors for the project and also speaking with artists about collaborating for Physint. […] I didn't want to do the same thing we did for P.T.”