Summary
Hideo Kojima announced his latest project in December 2023, withODshaping up to be an extremely unique horror title published by Xbox Game Studios. Kojima is working in close collaboration with Jordan Peele for the release, and fans currently only have a short and vague reveal trailer to gather any ideas about what the game will involve.
While the reveal trailer forODmight have some use in giving fans the first impression of what the title will be about, the name of the project itself may be the most valuable piece of information that is currently known. Kojima has spoken briefly about the naming of the project and how it may relate to the final product, and a fair assumption can be made about the core experience ofODby looking a bit further into this.
OD Will Likely Center Around Pushing Players to Their Limits
The reveal trailer forODgenerated a lot of buzz around the title, despite not offering anything in the way of real gameplay, yet its content could give more context to the naming of the project itself. The trailer simply showcases a number of faces individually recounting a phrase in a dark room, with all of them seemingly being subjects of an experiment. As the video progresses, each subject becomes visibly more shaken and afraid in their retelling of the phrase, with one woman screaming in terror as the video ends.
It is clear thatODis going to be a horror title with a focus on the disturbing and terrifying, with Kojima Productions already cutting its teeth with this kind of experience withthe belovedP.T.project in 2014. Kojima Productions confirmed thatODis short forOverDose, with the project also being confirmed to be using Xbox’s Cloud Gaming system as a core element of its gameplay.
Kojima then commented on how the game will focus on pushing players to the limit of their capacity to withstand fear and “what it means to OD on fear.“P.T.was renowned for its unsettling gameplay loopthat saw players retread the same corridors of a house over and over again, with each cycle having the potential to make some horrifying changes that catch the player by surprise. This was excellent for building tension inP.T.and could be used similarly inODto test the limits of anticipation that players can put up with.
OD May Blend Cloud Multiplayer Into its Core Experience
The Cloud Gaming focus forODcould mean it has a focus on players quickly jumping in and out of experiences, testing the limits of their fear together where the last person standing progresses further. Aside from this, a player’s experience could be directly impacted by other players leaving out of fear, with the project’s name perhaps signifying how this is its main survival element.
With the reveal trailer for the game showing what appears to be test subjects, there is a real possibility that drugs could be the focus ofOD’s horror, with the subjects being administered substances that change their perception of reality. The horror elements could increase as players choose to ingest more of these drugs, having to then toe the line between progression and “overdosing” on too high of a scare factor. Of course, givenKojima’s track record for layering work with deeper meaning, the concept of overdosing could purely be metaphorical inOD, but it is clear that the title’s name is a good reflection of how it aims to build on the horror genre by pushing the limits of what players are willing to create and experience for themselves.
Like the unreleasedP.T.,ODmay just be a working title and is subject to change as the game goes further into development.
P.T.
P.T.was a first-person survival horror game. Originally launched as a free game in a new franchise by the indie studio 7780s Studio, finishing the game reveals P.T. stands for Playable Teaser and the game is actually developed by Kojima Productions as a teaser for the then upcoming but eventually cancelled gameSilent Hills. The section was said not to be part of the game. The game starts with the protagonist who wakes up in a dark room. A door leads into an L-shaped hallway with photos and various items. The hallway appears to loop around while a radio broadcast lets the player know a man has murdered his family and later killed himself. Through various loops of the same hallway and a few surrounding rooms, gradually various forms of paranormal activity occur, with sounds, changes in lighting, apparitions and many other types of events.There is no combat system and the focus is entirely on exploration. There are also only puzzles in the sense that certain events can be encountered, as there is no HUD or any direct means to interact with the environment except for movement. After a certain event is triggered based on various conditions, the game ends and a trailer forSilent Hillsis shown.After the game Silent Hills was cancelled, PT was removed from the PlayStation Network on 10 May 2025.
