OD (video game)

OD^[a][b] is an upcoming horror game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is being directed, produced and designed by Hideo Kojima, who co-wrote it with Jordan Peele. The cast features Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier. The game will "explore the concept of testing your fear threshold, and what it means to OD on fear".^[3]

OD
Teaser poster featuring Sophia Lillis' character and subtitled "Knock"
Developer	Kojima Productions
Publisher	Xbox Game Studios
Director	Hideo Kojima
Producer	Hideo Kojima
Designer	Hideo Kojima
Writers	Hideo Kojima Jordan Peele
Engine	Unreal Engine 5
Genre	Horror

Development and marketing

Kojima Productions and Xbox Game Studios announced their partnership for the project at the Xbox Developer Direct in June 2022.^[4] Hideo Kojima stated that the studio was working with Xbox and its cloud gaming technology "to take on the challenge of creating a very unique, immersive, and totally new style of game—or rather, a new form of media".^[5] In November, approximately two and a half minutes of alleged gameplay footage leaked online. It depicted a character from a third-person perspective, visually resembling Margaret Qualley, walking through dark corridors with a flashlight. The scene concluded with a "Game over" message, followed by the phrase "A Hideo Kojima game", and the title Overdose.^[6][7][8]

OD was officially revealed by Kojima and Jordan Peele with a teaser trailer featuring Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier at the Game Awards in December 2023.^[9][10] Kojima described the project as "avant-garde" and "something totally different", and that players would "either love it or hate it".^[11][12] He further remarked that he believed its true evaluation would come "10 or 20 years from now".^[12]

Development was suspended in December 2024 due to the 2024–2025 SAG-AFTRA video game strike.^[13] It was confirmed to have resumed by July 2025 following the release of Kojima's latest game, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.^[14][15]

In September 2025, a new teaser, subtitled "Knock", was released during Kojima Productions' 10th anniversary event. The teaser showed Lillis' character performing a ritual before an unseen entity interrupts her with a knocking sound and then grabs her.^[16] Kojima stated the game would explore various fears, citing the sound of knocking as a personal example, while Peele would be addressing a "different kind of fear".^[17] Kojima suggested that OD will be an anthology horror game, with segments directed by various creators he referred to as "The Avengers", including himself and Peele.^[18][19]

The game is being developed using Unreal Engine 5.^[20]

Reception

Pre-release

Following the release of the teaser "Knock", several commentators noted its resemblance to P.T. (2014)—the playable teaser for the cancelled Silent Hills, a collaboration between Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro, which was delisted in 2015.^[c] Jez Corden of Windows Central deemed that the teaser "look[ed] ripped straight out of" the earlier work,^[11] while Oli Welsh of Polygon wrote that it "strongly recall[ed]" P.T. to him.^[16] Matt Purslow of IGN noted "clear parallels" between the two games, asserting that OD is "reusing and reinterpreting many of the themes, motifs, and designs that were established in [P.T.]. From ominous knocking to terrifying babies [...]".^[21]

Notes

1. "OD" is a reference to the codename of the game, which is also short for "overdose".^[1]
2. The subtitle "Knock", stylized in all caps, has been used in specific promotional material but has been indicated to represent a portion of the experience rather than the title for the entire project.^[2]
3. Attributed to multiple references:^{[11][16][21][22][23]}