Hideo Kojima has finally given us a deeper look at his mysterious horror project, now officially called OD Knock. Revealed during Kojima Productions’ 10th anniversary livestream, the new trailer showed off just over three minutes of the first real in-engine footage built in Unreal Engine 5. It marks the first real glimpse of the game since its original announcement back in 2023, and it leans heavily into the kind of psychological horror fans have been waiting for.
On stage, Kojima was joined by Xbox boss Phil Spencer to share the footage and talk about the project. Spencer confirmed that OD Knock is being developed in partnership with Xbox Game Studios, praising Kojima for pushing boundaries in gameplay, story, and player engagement. Kojima himself kept things deliberately vague, but made it clear that this is unlike anything he has made before. He described it as “something that was not there before” and hinted at blending film and games in new ways.
The trailer itself featured actress Sophia Lillis stepping into a gloomy room filled with strange candles, eerie noises, and a growing sense of dread. With Hunter Schafer and Udo Kier also set to star, the cast alone should catch attention, but it’s the atmosphere that really stood out. Fans who still remember the impact of P.T. will immediately notice the inspiration.
Gameplay Glimpses From the OD Knock Trailer
The new OD Knock trailer is just over three minutes, but it showed enough to get horror fans buzzing. The perspective is firmly first-person, and the setting feels photorealistic thanks to Unreal Engine 5 and the studio’s use of Metahuman and 3Lateral technology. The scene played out in one confined space, which immediately brought back memories of P.T., but it had its own strange details that made it feel different.
As the character moves deeper into the room, lighting candles triggers disturbing reactions. One candle shaped like a baby let out a chilling cry when lit, while another carved like a head started bleeding wax. Add in the sound of rain hitting the windows and an eerie knocking in the distance, and it’s clear Kojima is leaning into psychological horror rather than cheap jump scares. These unsettling touches could also hint at puzzle mechanics, though Kojima was quick to stress this isn’t just “a game about lighting candles.”
Speaking on stage at the Kojima Productions’ 10th anniversary livestream, Phil Spencer praised the project as something that pushes boundaries in both design and engagement. Kojima echoed that sentiment, saying his goal is to blur the line between games and film in a way we haven’t seen before. Exactly how that will play out remains under wraps, but from what was shown, OD Knock is already trying to deliver horror in a very specific and deliberate way.
Story and Setting Hints
The trailer doesn’t hand you the full story, but it drops plenty of breadcrumbs. Things kick off with a red card unlocking a door, followed by a cryptic line of text about events ten years after something terrible. From there, it’s straight into a gloomy room where candles, rain, and that unnerving knock set the mood. Lighting the candles feels ritual-like, and just when the tension peaks, a shadowy figure enters and grabs Sophia Lillis’ character as a Geiger counter-like buzz ramps up.
Kojima explained that the subtitle Knock comes from his own fear of knocking sounds. It’s simple, but it makes sense when you see how he’s framing the horror here. He also clarified that while Jordan Peele is involved with OD in some way, OD Knock is his distinct project, built around his personal idea of fear. He even suggested he wants to move beyond traditional film and game structures, creating something that mixes the two in ways that are still hard to pin down.
What all of this adds up to is mystery. We don’t know what that redacted event was, or how the knocking ties into it. But it’s clear OD Knock wants to unsettle you on more than one level, and it’s doing a pretty good job of that already.
After the Knock, the Waiting Begins
After little news since the 2023 announcement, Kojima Productions finally gave us something substantial with the latest OD Knock trailer. It’s still a tease, but the footage makes it clear this isn’t a typical horror game. The mix of photorealistic visuals, unsettling sound design, and ritual-like actions suggests Kojima is aiming for a very deliberate type of fear.
Xbox Game Studios is backing the project, with Phil Spencer calling it bold, unique, and unmistakably Kojima. He also confirmed development is “well underway,” though neither he nor Kojima offered a timeline for when we might actually play it. That’s par for the course with Kojima Productions, but it at least shows that things are moving behind the scenes.
What we do know is that Kojima wants to blur the line between film and games, and OD Knock is his latest attempt to chase that vision. The involvement of Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier gives it serious star power, and the subtitle points directly to Kojima’s personal fear of knocking sounds. If nothing else, it’s refreshing to see a horror game try something that feels this personal.
For now, all we can do is speculate and wait. Did the trailer give you P.T. flashbacks? Or are you more interested in seeing how Kojima mixes film and game this time around?
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