Gab Hernandez 
Though it flew under the radar in some ways, there are a number of hints that Hideo Kojima’s upcoming OD game may actually be a revival of PT and the scrapped “Silent Hills” title.
When PT was suddenly canceled and taken off PlayStation stores in April 2015, many fans of the Silent Hill franchise made their disdain known on social media. Kojima’s subsequent exit from Konami followed that news months later, leaving the Metal Gear Solid franchise without its figurehead for the first time. This resulted in an unprecedented wave of bad publicity for Konami.
Since then, Kojima Productions has become an independent video game company, with Death Stranding being its first release in September 2019. Although Death Stranding was a success in its own right and it will get a sequel in Death Stranding 2, fans are still wanting more. Kojima’s new game, OD, might be exactly what fans initially wanted when they heard of his departure from Konami.
Is OD like PT or Silent Hills?
The reveal trailer for OD included many references to PT and Silent Hill, hinting that it may be
When Kojima initially announced his collaboration with Microsoft in 2022, there was rampant speculation regarding what the project would be. Naturally, much of that led to fans discussing their hopes of OD being full realization of Silent Hills. While Konami remains in control of the Silent Hill IP and has revived it over recent months, there’s nothing stopping Kojima from making something similar.
OD was officially announced at The Game Awards 2023 with a Kojima classic; a cryptic trailer. As with any Kojima project, fans immediately went frame by frame to dissect the teaser and ended up finding a major easter egg. For a fraction of a frame each, the letters A-T-A-M-I were found in Udo Kier’s mouth, just barely perceptible.
Atami is a city in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan. Shizuoka’s spelling in Kanji is 静岡, with the character 静 can be translated as “silent” while 岡 is translated as “hill.” While the placement of the text was absurdly subtle, this is a strong hint that OD could actually be what Silent Hills was imagined as. That’s not where the hints end, though.
Kojima appeared at The Game Awards through an ominous door with a fluorescent light above it, a scene similar to the start of PT. The OD trailer ends with Sophia Lillis screaming with a figure walking through a doorframe visible in her eyes, which hearkens to PT.
The game is also seemingly set to be some manner of horror title. As with PT and Silent Hill, Kojima is working alongside a famed horror director for OD. At The Game Awards, Kojima brought Jordan Peele on stage for the reveal of OD. Peele established himself as a major player in horror as the writer and director of 2017’s Oscar-winning Get Out. Horror director Guillermo Del Toro and horror manga writer Junji Ito were both attached to Silent Hills before the game fell through. Alongside this are new trademarks that were filed by Kojima.
OD trademarks suggest Kojima’s next title will be a horror game
Trademarks for OD, Social Scream System, and Social Stealth System were filed by Kojima Productions, implying that there will be some kind of multiplayer element.
As for what “Social Stealth” and “Social Scream” are, there are no details. It can be speculated that other players will somehow be able to affect a person’s gameplay. Death Stranding also has “social multiplayer” elements baked into its gameplay where players can affect other players’ experience by offering supplies and helping to develop infrastructure despite not being a part of the same game world.
What many fans hope doesn’t happen is that OD follows the same path as the widely derided Silent Hill: Ascension. The advertised social features have largely been easily swayed surveys and toxic chatrooms, both of which have detracted from the “horror” experience one would expect from something given the Silent Hill branding. Kojima Productions will be looking to execute on OD’s social elements better than what has been seen in the actual Silent Hill franchise.
