Kojima to Skip OD Teasers While Targeting Possible Helix Launch

OD is Hideo Kojima's next game, and even though there's very little to look at so far, it grabs attention every time it comes up. Next year, the next hardware generation starts taking shape, and people are asking where the project fits. It's easy to assume a Kojima game is still years out, since his projects have a reputation for taking forever to ship.

A recent comment from the director changes that picture, because he says he's handling this one differently than usual. The comment came during a radio appearance, and a report picked it up. His main point was that he normally puts out one teaser after another, but this time he doesn't want to reveal much. He was careful to say this doesn't mean the game hasn't been made. The plan is to keep things quiet and then release it.

For a developer known for long, drawn-out marketing, that's a real change, and it's the core of the whole story.

That approach is unusual for him. The report also lays out where development stands. Filming started in June and will continue through year-end. The shoot is going well, and the team is building the game alongside it. So far, the team has used stand-ins from a temporary version of the game, and replacing them with the final content is a lot of work.

Based on that, the publication estimated a 2027 release might be possible. That guess is the starting point here, since it raises a bigger idea. This sounds a little silly out loud, but it's hard to shake: OD could end up being a launch game for Helix. The thinking starts with how the two platforms look right now.

XBOX has made a lot of smart decisions, while PlayStation has been much shakier. But rumors suggest the PS6 does have a plan. Talk has centered on revivals of older series like Killzone, Ape Escape, and Sly Cooper, which would be an unusual but possibly clever way to open a new generation.

You might also get something like Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and a handful of cross-gen titles, with Venom as another name that could fit. Bringing back PS2 and PS3-era franchises lines up reasonably well with what a launch lineup could look like.

None of this says one launch will do better than the other.

It's simply where the thought came from. Both consoles could launch at very steep prices, both could have handhelds, and PlayStation might even skip physical discs. A lot will be happening at the same time. Even so, if the rumors are true, there seems to be a plan for the PS6.

While the PS6 looks mapped out, Project Helix is a different story. That doesn't mean there's no plan, but it's less clear what will be ready on launch day. Next year is fairly light for exclusives after a heavy couple of years. Fable is on the schedule.

State of Decay 3 is headed to Game Pass, but it won't run on the platform the way it once did, so after everything that happened, it's hard to call it theirs. Contraband is most likely canceled, which may have been coming. Clockwork Revolution looks like the fall release, and it will probably launch across the Series consoles and Helix together.

What the new console has specifically is the thing that keeps pulling this idea along: a big Kojima game and his return to horror. That kind of title would fit a launch lineup, which is why it's tempting to push for it. There's a major counterpoint, and it's an obvious one. It probably won't happen. The director takes a long time on his projects, and the strike matters here too.

When a game leans this heavily on performances, those have to be finished first, and that work has been delayed.

Filming runs through the end of this year, and in a separate interview he said they could wrap around next summer, which makes a fast turnaround hard to picture. 2028 feels like the more sensible target. Say all the actors and famous names wrap next summer. Releasing the game three months later to line up with the console launch seems like a stretch.

A June 2028 release sounds much more believable. It's hard to know how quickly he works, though, so you can't fully rule out an earlier date. The game also doesn't have to arrive on the same day as the console. Landing within the first full year could work, especially if it's presented as an experience only the new hardware can deliver.

That isn't how Microsoft usually handles its games, but it's also unlikely to end up on PlayStation, so it would most likely stay on XBOX consoles and PC. It's unclear whether it could push the new hardware, but it would be a welcome addition to the platform.

Taking the positive view, which comes naturally with games like this, it's easy to hope OD isn't far off. In two years, you could realistically have played it already. It's hard to accept that it might be as distant as Physint, which probably won't show up until 2030 or 2031. OD should land before then.

Thinking about all this brings the excitement back.

So little has been shown, yet it's his return to horror, and that carries a lot of weight. It also means you have to throw out the usual logic. A game normally gets a proper lead-up before release, so a game that hasn't had one can't be close, or so the thinking goes. That assumption falls apart if he isn't following the formula. OD doesn't need to play by it.

There's a catch, and it may not be entirely up to him. This isn't a criticism of the director. It's more about what the publisher wants. If you're XBOX, with a game headed to your console and a star like him signed on, you'd want to show off his comeback.

Letting him show nothing and release the game as a stealth drop seems like a hard sell, and it's unclear the company would allow it. That makes his comment interesting. There's no reason to doubt him outright, but it's hard to say how it would work within a corporate structure, or whether it would actually play out that way.

If you take him at his word, you don't need five trailers leading in. A launch trailer, maybe, but not the drawn-out rollout Death Stranding got, the most recent example. Those games got multiple trailers, and some Japanese creators put out a big 10- or 15-minute one.

Those are always welcome; Death Stranding has historically had them, and they reveal quite a bit. With Death Stranding 2, and to a degree the first game too, he mostly showed long scenes.  A trailer would have a cutscene running about three minutes, then three or four minutes of gameplay, then another section of the game for three or four minutes.

That adds up to a 10-minute trailer, and it isn't even difficult to put together, yet you get to see a lot.

For a brand-new horror game, though, nothing explains what sets it apart from other titles. He's said it will be different and push boundaries in ways no one has before. But nothing shown so far backs that up, and nothing really explains what that means. Trust is easy to give because it's him and it's his return to the genre, but you'd still want to convince people why the game is different.

Dropping OD with no lead-in may not work. His confidence is still worth appreciating; it might pay off, and it's just an unusual approach. His statement throws out the standard rules, so the game could come out sooner or later. Some industry steps still apply.

It has to be rated first, and after that there's usually a couple of months for trailers and previews. Nearly every game on the planet follows that, and even stealth releases sometimes let people get hands-on early. So there will be signs that OD is getting closer. It can't just drop in two weeks, not with someone this high-profile involved and a major console publisher behind it.

If it's a launch title or a 2028 game for the new console, it won't slip out unnoticed. Even so, the signs point toward a quiet approach for OD rather than eight trailers, three years of buildup, and a full reveal at the end. For a horror project, that's a notable approach.