Rumors of Hideo Kojima working on a new horror game can be traced back years, but it wasn’t until late 2022 that concrete evidence of his now-known as Project Overdose dropped. The contents of the leaked footage were cryptic as you’d expect, showing Margaret Qualley, who portrays Mama/Lockne in Death Stranding, as a playable character trying to escape a frightening foe.
Normally, I wouldn’t give these reports credit, however, Kojima Productions has been swift to take them down, which ironically all but confirms that they are true. On the surface Project Overdose appears to be a horror game, but since we know how free-spirited the legendary Metal Gear and Death Stranding creator is, you can bet that it’ll be an extraordinary form of storytelling.
Overdose Release Date
Project Overdose does not have a release date at the moment. The game hasn’t been officially announced by Kojima Productions either, which strongly suggests that its launch is quite far out.
After the gameplay footage for Project Overdose leaked, Kojima appeared during The Game Awards 2022 to reveal his next game, Death Stranding 2 (DS2). While he was on stage, he also subtly mentioned he’d been working on a brand-new concept that was in the very early stages of development — my money’s on the Margaret Qualley horror game.
Anyhow, DS2 is rumored to arrive sometime in 2024 — likely Q4 since both of PlayStation’s recent AAA titles, God of War: Ragnarök and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are set in the same time frame — and that puts the studio’s next game after that a couple of years later.
It’s worth noting that Kojima himself admitted his secret game was still in the concept stage, and that pushes Project Overdose towards a 2026 or 2027 release date at the earliest.
Will Project Overdose Be An Xbox Exclusive?
It hasn’t been announced whether Project Overdose will be an Xbox exclusive. Having said that, Kojima Productions is indeed working on a title exclusive for Xbox consoles, we just don’t know if that’s Overdose.
Since there’s barely anything to go on, except for the gameplay leak and the bizarre clues Kojima gives occasionally on Twitter, we can’t assume which platforms the game will support. But he did appear during the Xbox Showcase in 2022 where he confirmed that he was developing an IP powered by Microsoft’s cloud tech, so odds are that Overdose is the title in question.
I doubt Kojima Productions has a contract with PlayStation beyond Death Stranding 2, and even if there happens to be one, it’ll be set after their Microsoft game. Hideo has also admitted that he often has to refuse buy-outs by publishers to remain independent, which you could say is why his studio is working with both PlayStation and Microsoft rather than becoming part of one instead.
What Is Project Overdose About?
Project Overdose is a third-person horror game. On second thought, I’m not even sure whether you should consider it a horror game as Kojima’s someone dead set on creating genre-defying experiences, and Death Stranding is a clear declaration of that.
Be that as it may, Overdose is definitely a type of horror game, and the leaked gameplay footage’s unsettling vibe does support this theory. It kicks off with Margaret being pursued by some creature, and ends with Kojima’s signature “A Hideo Kojima Game…..Overdose”.
As far as the story goes, it features Margaret Qualley, the Alan Wake flashlight, and a terrifying phantom. Everything beyond that, let’s just say it’ll be out of this world as Kojima is known for his unorthodox, and sometimes baffling, plots — points to the Metal Gear timeline.
Will Project Overdose Run On The Cloud?
We’re yet to speak of the elephant in the room, the cloud technology bit. It seems that Project Overdose will be using Microsoft’s Xbox cloud gaming service in which you stream games on the go instead of downloading them. That also means that it might be an always-online title. However, I do think it would be a dense decision to not have an offline mode and a physical release.
If you look at the leaked footage, you’ll see that a person is playing on a handheld device. Maybe it’s just a controller but that being a cloud streaming device is just as likely. And Kojima did tweet that Phil Spencer, Xbox’s head, sent him Logitech’s G Cloud handheld too, which virtually confirms my suspicions.
You can say that Project Overdose partly stems from Kojima’s days spent making P.T. and the canceled Silent Hills game. After the release of Metal Gear Solid V, he left Konami, leading to the cancellation of the long-developed Silent Hills game. However, amidst the separation, Death Stranding emerged as a by-product.
It’s as if this is Kojima’s way of telling Konami “Fine, I’ll do it myself”, especially now that he’s an independent developer. We can’t know for sure whether Kojima will include elements from Silent Hills in Project Overdose. Regardless, given his track record, whatever he creates is bound to be frighteningly phenomenal.
