What is the OD release date? There have been plenty of rumors about Hideo Kojima’s project with Microsoft, including potential leaks and more, but we finally got our first real look at OD during The Game Awards 2023. OD appears to be a horror game in the same vein as Konami’s canceled Silent Hills project.
Kojima is no stranger to both horror games and horror movie directors as he previously worked with Guillermo del Toro on Silent Hills. Jordan Peele is one of Kojima’s collaborative partners on OD, and it sounds like there may be more collaborators revealed in the future. This is Kojima’s first project with Microsoft which means OD is going to be an upcoming Xbox Game Pass title in the future.
OD release date estimate
OD, also known as Overdose, doesn’t have a release date yet. It’s unclear whether the Xbox Game Studios published game will be exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox Series S/X consoles and PC, or if the game is set to arrive on PlayStation 5.
We’ve seen very little OD gameplay since its initial reveal at TGA 2023, with our best look coming from the minute-long trailer. While we know OD has been in development for at least one year based on leaks and rumors, we doubt the game will be released until 2025 at the earliest.
Kojima is also working on Death Stranding 2, though that story game also hasn’t been given a release date. That said, we’ve seen much more gameplay from Death Standing 2, so there’s reason to believe Kojima will finish up his work there before moving to OD full-time.
OD trailer
The OD announcement trailer features three actors: Sophia Ellis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier. The video begins with a Geiger counter clicking and the sounds of a door being slammed before going completely silent. The camera switches to Sophia Ellis’ face as she recites a phrase in front of a black background.
“The hungry purple dinosaur ate the kind, zingy fox, the jabbering crab, and the mad whale and started vending and quacking,” Ellis says. As she recites the sentence, you can hear different variations of her repeating the same words in slightly different ways. The phrase is a phonetic pangram, a series of words that uses all of the phonemes in the English language. This is used to create voiceprints, allowing the user to mimic the speaker’s voice.
The scene switches to Hunter Schafer who repeats the phrase. Unlike Ellis who was relatively calm, Schafer appears to be upset as she struggles to say the words. Just as it looks like Schafer is about to break down in tears, she finishes the sentence and the scene moves to Udo Kier. Kier repeats the phrase much slower than the first two actors, saying each word deliberately in an almost angry tone. The reflection in all three actor’s eyes reveals numerous white panels facing them.
The final scene cuts back to Ellis, this time she appears to be frightened as she can hear the sound of approaching footsteps. Her eyes no longer reflect the white light panels in the room, instead, she can see a door slowly open, revealing a completely white space. When the door stays open for a few seconds, Ellis shrieks in disbelief before the scene cuts to black.
OD Silent Hill reference
The Central Xbox Twitter account has discovered a reference to Silent Hills in the OD trailer. As Kier speaks, letters appear in specific frames of the video in his mouth, spelling out the word ‘Atami’, a city in Japan. That city when spelt in Kanji and separated into individual Kanji spells out the words ‘Silent’ and ‘Hill’.
It’s unclear why Kojima would hide this message in the OD trailer unless he’s managed to somehow borrow the Silent Hill IP from Konami, but this seems unlikely given their split.
OD gameplay
Speaking on stage at TGA 2023, Kojima stated that he’s trying to create something groundbreaking, something no one has ever seen before. He aims to do this by utilizing Microsoft’s cloud gaming technology to build an immersive experience. Kojima reiterated that OD is still a game, yet it’s also a movie and a new form of media.
OD horror movie collaborators
Peele won’t be the only person to collaborate with the videogame auteur as Kojima revealed he has several partners lined up on this project. Kojima refers to his band of collaborators as “the Avengers”, suggesting that they are the best of the best in their field. If Peele is anything to go by, we’re expecting some big names to be linked to this project. The first name that comes to mind is Guillermo del Toro as the pair didn’t get the chance to finish their first project together.
And that’s everything you need to know about the OD release date. While we don’t expect to hear much about the upcoming game in 2023, there’s bound to be something new as we head into the new year. Take a look at our list of the best PC games if you’re looking for something to tide you over until we receive more information about OD.