"Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal but with flair" - Casting calls for Hideo Kojima's new PlayStation-published spy game Physint give new clues about what to expect
The game's internal codename is "Shimmer".
With Death Stranding 2 now behind us, Kojima Productions' future includes horror game OD and the new espionage game Physint, which will be published on PlayStation by Sony. It's still a long way off, but recent casting details are providing a clearer idea of what to expect from it.
Hideo Kojima has already found a few actors for Physint, including Don Lee (Train to Busan), Charlee Fraser (Furiosa), and Minami Hamabe (Godzilla Minus One). MP1st is now reporting some details scraped from apparent casting calls that the game's codename is "Shimmer" and that it's looking for a villain who's described as "Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal but with flair" and "confident in a psychotic way". Aren't we all?
Note, Mads Mikkelsen and Hideo Kojima have worked together before on Death Stranding and are seemingly very friendly, though it appears the idea is to have someone else playing this particular Mikkelsen-inspired part.
The report goes on to say that the casting calls are looking for "multiple passengers on a hijacked bus", and 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".
Nothing is known about the plot or specific setting yet, but a hijacked bus is a scenario you'll be familiar with if you're a fan of action thrillers. Perhaps Kojima is paying homage to Jan de Bont's Speed. Pivot Motion's Mari Ueda, who has already worked with Kojima on Death Stranding 2, is the casting director.
Last summer, Kojima stated he was working on Physint all by himself, so this development update seems to suggest a step up in the creative process as we move towards proper production of Physint starting later this year.
Video Game
Careful, huge spoilers are out for James Bond game 007: First Light, following an Indonesian Game Rating leak
Other games were also affected.
007: First Light is set to finally launch in late May, but James Bond's next adventure is already facing a full-blown leak of late-story spoilers.
According to VGC, the unfortunate event, which also affected Bandai Namco's RPG Echoes of Aincrad, was caused by a security flaw with the Indonesian Game Rating System. This exposed gameplay footage submitted privately for classification by the developers and publishers. Because of the leak, some of that footage has been spotted and shared online.
In the case of IO Interactive's 007 game, the spoilers are particularly bad, as the leaked footage includes an extended look at the ending of the game that reportedly runs for "over an hour". If you were planning to play either of these games and dislike spoilers, you might want to set your social media filters accordingly.
The upcoming remake of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag and Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, which was only recently announced, were also part of the leak, but it seems no footage has surfaced online at the time of writing.
Circling back to 007: First Light, the action-adventure and stealth game locked a 27th May launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S a while back, but players looking forward to its Switch 2 port will have to wait until this summer.
PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2
Fable still coming out this autumn, despite reports that developer Playground Games is "worried" about Grand Theft Auto 6
Humphry Dumpty.
There were rumours over the weekend that Playground Games' Fable had been internally delayed and could potentially slip into 2027 to avoid clashing with GTA 6. However, the developer has seemingly extinguished these rumours by stating Fable will still release this autumn.
The initial rumour that Fable had been delayed internally came from journalist Jeff Grubb, who said Playground Games was "worried about the launch of GTA 6". He said this didn't mean Fable wouldn't release this year, but suggested "if it's getting delayed beyond the release of GTA 6, that could push it into December, which might make it a prime candidate to get delayed into 2027".
It's against that rumour-mill backdrop that Playground Games has now taken to social media to tell a fan, pointedly: "We're excited to welcome you to Albion in Autumn 2026."
The timing of this remark seems to be the studio sending a clear message: that the reports of a delay are not true. Playground Games is evidently confident enough we'll see Fable this year - and in the autumn rather than December, which is winter - to publicly declare it. Fable is due to be released across Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.
We got an in-depth look at Fable's gameplay earlier this year, including a peep at the series-recurring city of Bowerstone and returning features such as owning property as well as the ability to romance and even marry the citizens of Albion. The hallmarks of Fable all seem present and correct.
PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
4A Games announces Metro 2039, and we're getting an Xbox-themed reveal stream later this week
After the exodus.
It's time to brave the harsh outside world again, survivor. Metro 2039 has been confirmed, and developer 4A Games will share a proper first look at the game later this week.
Metro 2039's reveal, correctly predicted by a leaker last week, was done by 4A Games and publisher Deep Silver on Xbox News Wire. The pair are teaming with Xbox for a full reveal stream this Thursday, 16th April.
"Xbox has always been a home for the franchise, and we’re honored to continue that relationship by bringing you a first look at this next exciting chapter," the official post said. No story or gameplay details have been shared ahead of the event, which will begin at 6pm UK time (10am PST / 1pm EST).
The Metro series began in 2010 with Metro 2033, which we awarded 8/10 in our review, back when we used a 10-point scale. 4A followed it up in 2013 with Metro: Last Light and in 2019 with Metro Exodus, which were equally well received. "Far from just another map-clearing game, Metro's first above-ground outing is an atmospheric, characterful voyage across a ruined Russia," we wrote in our Metro Exodus review.
4A confirmed in November 2020 that a new game was in development, so 2039 has been worked on for almost six years now. The long development cycle could help refresh the Metro formula, as in 2019, when Exodus took the traditionally underground and claustrophobic action and brought it topside.
The games are based on Dmitry Glukhovsky's three Metro novels, the last of which was Metro 2035 (2015). It's unclear if Metro 2039, the fourth entry in the series, will follow a completely original storyline and distance itself further from the books.
Xbox 360, PC
Video Game
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PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC
"You think we're stupid?" - Players react to Pokémon and Palworld lookalike Pickmon being renamed to "better align with our brand identity and lore"
"This name carries a more powerful presence."
The alarmingly Pokémon-like open-world creature collecting action game Pickmon has changed its name, ostensibly to "better align with our brand identity and lore", but probably also to get out of Nintendo's lawyers' way.
Pickmon surfaced on Steam last month and, in its debut trailer (watch it below), showed a world filled to the brim with creature designs that are dangerously close to Pokémon's own. Fans of that long-running Nintendo series weren't happy, saying things like "Gotta Sue Them All" and "Lawsuit speedrun" in the YouTube comments.
Pickmon developer PocketGame responded - not to be confused with Palworld developer PocketPair (even company names aren't safe) - with a statement that promised to engage the community when it comes to developing new features and adding designs to the game.
A couple of weeks later, PocketGame has decided to give Pickmon a new name: Pickmos. This better aligns with the game's brand identity and lore because apparently "-mos" evokes to "a grand cosmos" and "a complete ecosystem". "This name carries a more powerful presence, acting as a better vessel for the fantasy adventure we are building for you," PocketGame said. "But [the] cute creatures are still collectively known as Pickmon!"
But the reaction to this change hasn't been favourable either. "You think we're stupid? Everyone knows that you're making nothing more than blatant plagiarised slop with no creativity or identity to stand out," said one user while sharing screenshots highlighting some of those similar designs. Even Overwatch hero Roadhog has somehow been absorbed into the game's strange mix, alongside a player character that's a barely altered Link from Breath of the Wild.
The official Pickmos account is replying with variations of the same statement. "According to our Design Patent Department," one of these replies reads, "the outlines are completely different. Colors cannot be patented; for a Western dragon design to be considered an infringement, it would require an identical outline."
Pickmos currently has no release date and only a PC (Steam) release has been confirmed.
