Hideo Kojima Shares Details About Upcoming Horror Game OD

Creator Hideo Kojima says that his horror game OD will feature a new mechanic that will greatly differ from anything that has ever been done before. A collaboration between Xbox and Kojima Productions, few details have been revealed about OD since the game was first announced. Like many of Kojima’s other games, this one will feature the involvement of several Hollywood actors, including Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and the late Udo Kier.

Much of the excitement surrounding OD is due to an entirely different game. In 2014, Kojima and Konami released P.T., a playable teaser for Silent Hills. Though the teaser offered a short glimpse at what Kojima planned to do with the horror genre, it received widespread praise. Following the cancelation of Silent Hills in 2015, P.T. was removed from the PlayStation Store and remains unavailable. Though P.T. has been delisted for more than a decade, the promise of a Kojima-directed horror game has a lot of people interested in seeing what comes of OD.

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Kojima Teases New Mechanic for OD

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hideo Kojima offered new hints about his upcoming horror game OD. The creator talked briefly about a new mechanic in the game, which he unsuccessfully pitched to several companies. Kojima notes that most companies failed to understand the vision, but things changed when he met with then-current Xbox boss Phil Spencer. Spencer has since been replaced by Asha Sharma, but the company continues to support his overall vision for the game. Without giving away too much, Kojima hints that the in-game mechanic has something to do with the scariness of the game and how players react to it.

“I wanted to go beyond the limit of the ‘scariness’ that other games had reached. It’s a single-player game, and I wanted to make it as scary as possible. But for those that might stop playing when it gets too scary, I have thought of a system that will allow them to keep going. I can’t say much more, because it’ll give too much of a hint on the system, and I could get in trouble for saying too much!”

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

Hideo Kojima is no stranger to unusual game mechanics. The original Metal Gear Solid‘s Psycho Mantis fight remains memorable thanks to the villain’s ability to read the game’s memory card. The video game Boktai also featured a solar sensor installed on the cartridge, which allowed it to absorb sunlight to help the player defeat vampire enemies. Kojima seems to have something similarly unusual in mind for OD, but it’s unclear exactly what is planned at this time.

Kojima is already a big enough name, but OD also features the involvement of Jordan Peele. Peele has become one of the biggest names in horror over the last decade, thanks to hit movies like Get Out, Us, and Nope. Peele is sharing writing duties on the game with Kojima, though details of the story remain under wraps. Much of the marketing surrounding OD has been cryptic so far, but that should change once there’s a set release date.

Xbox has canceled multiple games recently, resulting in a lot of concerns about the future. The cancelation of Silent Hills remains a point of frustration among Kojima’s fans, and many fear a similar situation could happen with OD. There’s been no indication that the game could end up sharing the same fate as Perfect Dark, but it’s hard for gamers to get too invested in Xbox announcements lately. Hopefully, OD will give Kojima the opportunity to show the world what he can really do with the horror genre.