Hideo Kojima has shared new details about OD, the upcoming horror project from Kojima Productions, revealing that filming with the game’s actors has properly begun and that the title will feature an entirely new gameplay system.
Speaking in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kojima said the core concept for OD dates back to the development of the original Death Stranding. He explained that he presented the idea to a number of companies before finding a partner willing to support the project.
“I pitched to many people, to the big companies, and also to the up-and-coming companies. All of them said the same thing,” Kojima recalls. “They said that I’m crazy, and that they really don’t understand the concept — that they will not be able to do it.”
According to Kojima, Xbox and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer were among the few who understood the project’s potential and agreed to move forward with it.
Kojima also said one of his goals with OD is to create the scariest game possible. However, he acknowledged that some players may struggle with the intensity of the experience and revealed that the game will include a system designed to help them continue playing.
“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!”
The interview also included comments from Xbox executive Sarah Bond Sharma, who pointed to projects such as OD as examples of why the company continues to support unconventional creative ideas.
“A game like OD tells Sharma that Xbox has ‘not reached the boundary of games,’ she says, ‘and, therefore, we need to make sure our platform is sufficiently open so more creators and developers can come on board and be successful, because the next Kojima is yet to be known.'”
While Kojima stopped short of revealing how the new gameplay system works, the director indicated that further details will be shared at a later date as development on OD continues.
