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Hideo Kojima hints that next project may be a horror video game

Legendary video game director Hideo Kojima dropped clues that he may be going back to the horror genre for his next project, now that Death Stranding has been released.

Kojima included horror components in Death Stranding, but for fans of the genre, those are nowhere near enough to whet their appetites. Fortunately for them, Kojima may be planning a full-course meal.

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In an October interview with Rocket Beans Gaming, in which Kojima talked about the video game industry and the direction of his independent studio Kojima Productions, confirmed his interest in working on a horror video game.

Hideo Kojima on Death Stranding, horror games, crunching, best movie 2019 and more | Interview

“I want to do a horror game one day, yes of course. I have some new ideas that I think kind of get out there. But I don’t know when. I’ll have to think about when I bring this out,” said Kojima. “Horror, when it comes to movies…You can kind of close your eyes watching a really fearful thing. Games are different than movies. If you close your eyes in a movie you can make it go away and the movie continues, but in games, it’s interactive. You have to move forward yourself.”

Kojima’s well-known love for the film industry may be seen in his video games, with many of them resembling movies in terms of length and their cutscenes, as well as the choice of actors for his characters. Kojima Productions will also be venturing into film production in the future, but for now, Kojima continues to draw inspiration from movies for his projects.

As to make the scariest horror game, I’ll watch the scary movies in order to awaken my horror soul. THE EYE is the Thai horror movie I rent when making PT but was too scary to finish watching. The package is scary so I rented the disc only. Will I be able to finish watching? pic.twitter.com/BVwPruUAvt

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 22, 2019

Kojima’s tweet references P.T., the playable teaser for the canceled Silent Hills that would have been a horror game in collaboration with Guillermo del Toro. It is widely regarded as a horror masterpiece but also serves as a grim reminder of what could have been if Konami did not shut down Silent Hills.

Is Kojima simply reminiscing about his work on P.T. and Silent Hills, or is he hinting that he has something to “finish” in his possible return to the horror genre? With the director already thinking about how to “make the scariest horror game,” fans of P.T. are hoping that Kojima’s return to the horror genre will come sooner than later, and hopefully be his next project after Death Stranding.

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Legendary Japanese game developer Hideo Kojima has teased his next project, titled OD, and it's going to be horrifying. A collaboration with film director Jordan Peele — the creator of critically acclaimed films Get Out, Us, and Nope —  the project aims to be a hybrid video game and film project. It will feature actors Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier.

Onstage at the 2023 Game Awards, Kojima described the project as a "new form of media."

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It didn't come to PC until July 2020, before that was followed by Death Stranding: Director's Cut for PC and PS5 in the following years. The version of the game that's available through Xbox Game Pass is based on the July 2020 PC release, although it only came to PC Game Pass in August 2022. After a year on Microsoft's subscription service, the deal is up, and it's going to leave on August 15. Death Stranding is a game with a very compelling and socially relevant story and gameplay not quite like anything out there, so Game Pass subscribers who haven't tried this game yet need to before it leaves the service soon. 
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