At The Game Awards 2023, Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peele took the stage to announce an exciting collaboration, known simply asOD.The trailer forODis, perhaps unsurprisingly, vague and enigmatic, but fans have speculated that it will have something to do with consciousness, possibly about emergent AI, as the characters in the trailers are reciting a phonetic pangram—a type of sentence often used to demonstrate text-to-speech systems. But this is a Kojima product, so just about anything is possible.
At the time of writing,ODis confirmed to star Hunter Schafer, Udo Kier, and Sophia Lillis.
ODis a rather interesting game from a marketing perspective, as it is being carried almost entirely by prestige. Naturally, the scant promotional material for the game touts it as a “one-of-a-kind experience,” but just about every ambitious or hyped-up game utilizes this sort of language. Audiences will believe these sorts of claims, though, asODis coming from not just an auteur game-maker, but a visionary filmmaker as well. This prestige will giveODpurchase for now, but not forever.
OD Can Only Stay Under Wraps for so Long
Virtually Nothing Is Known About OD
Speculation aboutODwill continue to rum rampanteven after more of it gets revealed, but there’s almost nothing to go on at this point. There are certain details, like the door that Kojima dramatically emerged from upon announcing the game, that have led some to believe that it will share some DNA with the tragically canceledP.T., but the actual content of the game remains intentionally obfuscated. Essential information, including setting, player perspective, protagonist, and style of gameplay, are all up in the air.
On the one hand, thismakesODmore tantalizing. After all, claims that it will redefine the horror genre are hard to refute when there’s no evidence to the contrary. But there’s also no evidence in support of such lofty statements, and while Kojima and Peele have both proven to be disruptive in the past, one shouldn’t rule out the possibility thatODwill be lacking in certain areas. A more substantial reveal, even if it’s something like a brief look at gameplay or an in-engine cutscene, would be an apt tool for combatting this sort of skepticism, which is likely to grow and mutate the longer the game remains cloaked in shadow.
ODwas first revealed at The Game Awards 2023, so perhaps this year’s TGA will be the perfect venue for a follow-up.
The 2020s' Horror Renaissance Puts OD at a Disadvantage
The past few years, 2024 included, have been nothing short of invigorating for the horror genre in gaming. The indie scene has been particularly vibrant and prolific, with games likeSignalis,Crow Country, andFear the Spotlightproving to be more than just nostalgic throwbacks, but the AAA space has hosted some impressive bangers as well, with this year’sSilent Hill 2remake being a notable mention. All of this is to say thatODisn’t going to be without competition, especially as AAA prestige dwindles in the face of passionate, confident, and boundary-pushing independent projects.
No one should writeODoff—Death Strandingalone proves that Kojima still has the magic touch, and Jordan Peele’s reverence for both the gaming medium and the horror genre suggests that he will be a more than worthy collaborator. But the game’s success isn’t written in stone, and it may even be easy to forget about it in the midst of so many other promising horror games. There’severy reason to be excited forOD, but Kojima Productions is going to need to keep stoking the flames of hype with some actual content sometime soon.
