Hideo Kojima pitched OD as a "really scary game" to Xbox boss Phil Spencer – and he was right, this looks terrifying

Between the infamous, unfinished P.T. demo and upcoming game OD, I thought Hideo Kojima had used the magic of a thousand mountains to create the perfect formula for deeply unsettling horror games: two letter title, crying baby. But Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who heard Kojima's pitch for OD – which does not yet have a release date – reveals it might be even more simple than that.

While talking with Japanese site Famitsu (Twitter account Genki translates), Spencer explains that Kojima approached him with ideas for OD and just said, "I want to make a really scary game."

And, so, a scary game began to get made. Spencer says the game was subject to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes, which is why it doesn't yet have a launch date. In any case, a new trailer released in September during Kojima Productions' "Beyond the Strand" 10th anniversary event tells me things are going well.

Redacted text speaking of things cursed and forbidden. A cold room where infant-shaped candles melt into waxy pools of blood. The distant sound of a baby wailing, of course, as strained and accusatory as the child in P.T.'s lonely yowling.

The unhappy room where OD's September trailer takes place is nearly empty, but the air in it seems heavy – aided by It actress Sophia Lillis' frantic reaction to the knock at the door, and Kojima's flair for summoning tension. Co-writer Jordan Peele – who's responsible for modern horror classics like Get Out and Nope – certainly assisted with the thick sense of dread, too. Pretty scary. Just needs more Death Stranding umbilical cord.

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