Should Horror Game OD Be More Kojima or Jordan Peele?

Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peele have teamed up to deliver OD, a predictably enigmatic horror game revealed all the way back in 2023. Fans can likely expect to learn more about it sometime after Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is released, and the surrounding hubbub has died down, but for now, OD hype is more or less being carried by the prestige of its creative leads.

In addition to Kojima and Peele, OD will benefit from the star power of actors like Hunter Schafer, Sophia Lillis, and Udo Kier.

This is perfectly reasonable, as Kojima and Peele are luminaries in their respective mediums, though their styles are quite different. Peele, who was originally best known for his comedic work on shows like Mad TV and Key and Peele, has become a breakout director in the horror film world, making waves with Get Out, Us, and Nope. It's still relatively early in his directorial career, so it will certainly be interesting to see how his penchant for unique horror and social commentary bleeds into his work on OD. Kojima, by comparison, is less experienced with proper horror: although his games often have horror elements, he hasn't made a dedicated horror game just yet. As such, it's not entirely clear which creative mind will be represented more in the final product.

Who Could Be The Other 'Horror Avengers' Working on Hideo Kojima’s OD?

Hideo Kojima's horror game OD is being co-written by Jordan Peele, but he has teased even more big names are collaborating on the project.

Posts

By LB Beistad

Should OD Be More of a Kojima Game, or an Interactive Jordan Peele Movie?

OD Will Be Kojima's Chance to Redeem Himself in the Horror Games Space

As many gamers are likely already aware, Hideo Kojima was initially meant to direct Silent Hills, a soft reboot of the Silent Hill franchise, alongside visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. The game, which was revealed via the still-iconic and masterfully crafted P.T. Demo, was eventually scrapped after Kojima's messy departure from Konami, where he had worked for decades. And while certain aspects of Silent Hills, like Norman Reedus' leading role, would bleed into Death Stranding, the project has ostensibly been abandoned.

This is widely accepted as a tragedy by both Silent Hill and Hideo Kojima fans, which is a big reason why OD is such an exciting prospect. Again, virtually nothing is known about the upcoming game, but the mere fact that Kojima is diving head-first back into the horror sphere—alongside a different auteur filmmaker, no less—is tantalizing. As such, one could make the case that Kojima's voice should be strongest in OD, as it would allow him to realize the lost dream of P.T.

Why OD Shouldn't, and Likely Won't, Be 'Just' a Kojima Game

Comeback stories are alluring, and Kojima's journey from ousted Konami leader to successful independent artist can safely be called one—even if he wasn't much of an underdog, in the traditional sense. Him getting another shot, as it were, at P.T. Via OD would certainly support such a narrative, and while this would be nice, it's not what makes OD so exciting. OD should be a bold and exciting new collaboration between Kojima and Peele, not just a vessel for Kojima to do business as usual, with Peele tacked on for soundboarding or optics purposes.

Rather, OD should be a lovechild of the two creators. It's rare for such a well-established filmmaker to team up with a game developer as unique as Kojima, so the more Peele DNA that gets into OD, the better. The game will be covered in Kojima's fingerprints regardless—he is the legendary game developer of the pair, after all—which is precisely why Jordan Peele's influence ought to be strong as well. There should be little doubt that Kojima feels similarly, otherwise he probably wouldn't have invited Peele onboard in the first place.

Image