Game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the hugely popular “Death Stranding,” had two pieces of news coming out of the Game Awards 2023.
On Thursday evening at the Game Awards show in L.A., Kojima appeared on stage with filmmaker Jordan Peele to announce his next game project: “OD,” which Kojima describes as an “immersive and totally new style of game” that will explore “what it means to OD on fear.” It’s being produced in partnership with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios.
In addition, Kojima announced that his documentary film “Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds” — which follows his journey to form an independent games studio and his creative process behind “Death Stranding” — will be distributed worldwide in the spring of 2024 exclusively on Disney+.
Peele, the acclaimed director of “Get Out,” “Us” and “Nope,” will be “one of several talented storytellers” involved in the “OD” project, according to Kojima Productions. “We are working with Xbox Game Studios and their 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,” Kojima said in a statement.
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“This man is an icon,” Peele said of Kojima on stage at the Game Awards (watch the video below). “I can say from the first moment I played ‘Metal Gear Solid 2,’ I was experiencing the work of an artist whose craft just hits different.”
Per Kojima Productions’ description of “OD,” it “explores the concept of testing your fear threshold, and what it means to OD on fear — while blurring the boundaries of gaming and film.” The project will star Sophia Lillis (“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”), Hunter Schaffer (“Euphoria”) and Udo Kier (“Flesh for Frankenstein”).
Watch the teaser trailer for “OD”:
Disney+ has not set an official premiere date for “Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds.” The film is directed and photographed by Glen Milner and produced by Ben Hilton for Filmworks, London. The cast includes George Miller, Guillermo del Toro, Norman Reedus, Nicolas Winding Refn, Grimes, Woodkid, Chvrches, Mamoru Oshii, Shinji Mikami and Shinya Tsukamoto. The 60-minute film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in June 2023.
“Embark on a compelling behind-the-scenes odyssey as ‘Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds’ unveils the visionary mind of Hideo Kojima, weaving the intricate creative threads that birthed a groundbreaking game and reshaped the landscape of interactive storytelling,” the announcement from Kojima Productions said.
Watch the trailer for “Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds”:
