The horror film 'IT', released in 2017, featured the villain 'Pennywise', who became widely known in South Korea through memes related to failures in cryptocurrency and stock investments. Actor Bill Skarsgård, who delivered a stellar performance as Pennywise, will star as the lead in Director Hideo Kojima's new game 'PHYSINT'.

Director Kojima announced the casting for the lead role in the upcoming game 'PHYSINT' during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2026 broadcast on September 17. The lead actor is Bill Skarsgård, and the character played by Skarsgård serves as both the protagonist and the player. Director Kojima and Skarsgård have long been mutual fans, leading to this collaboration. It has also been previously announced that Charlie Fraser, Don Lee, and Minami Hamabe have been cast in PHYSINT.

Earlier this year, costume fittings, skin tests, and camera tests were conducted for Skarsgård and Fraser, and Director Kojima stated that these sessions made the vision for the new title much clearer. The director added that casting, actor skin modeling, and collaborations with external artists are progressing smoothly.

PHYSINT is a stealth action game currently in development by Kojima Productions. Based on an original IP, it is known as a title that encompasses the entirety of Director Kojima's career and a project that blurs the boundaries between cinema and gaming. Although introduced as a Sony partnership game in 2024, it shocked the industry in June of this year by parting ways with Sony and choosing to collaborate with Xbox instead.

New information was also shared regarding 'OD', the horror game previously introduced as an Xbox collaborative title. Performance capture filming and ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement, the process of re-recording audio for filmed footage), which had been suspended due to the SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) strike earlier this year, have now resumed. Director Kojima explained that the title will push the limits of horror, noting that through repeated trial and error as well as experimentation, the project is finally taking shape. More details will be announced later.