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Horror veterans Frictional Games have unveiled their brand new game called ONTOS. This stunning title is a sci-fi mystery thriller positioned as the spiritual successor to their 2015 cult hit SOMA. Announced last night at The Game Awards 2025, the game will launch next year on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S through publisher Kepler Interactive.
Story, Setting and Stellan Skarsgård
ONTOS casts players as Aditi Amani, a resourceful engineer exploring the Samsara, a repurposed moon hotel built atop a failed mining colony. The game features Golden Globe winner Stellan Skarsgård as part of its voice cast and promises to explore the nature of reality with the same philosophical depth SOMA brought to consciousness.
Creative director and Frictional co-founder Thomas Grip described the project as the studio's most ambitious yet. "Where SOMA tackled consciousness, ONTOS aims to do the same thing with the very nature of reality. A lofty goal - yes - and a risky one too," Grip said. "I am personally dying to see how players react to it."
Player choice and moral dilemmas
The game emphasizes player choice and problem-solving without predetermined solutions. Players will scavenge items, manipulate machinery, and face moral dilemmas while encountering horrific Experiments throughout the interconnected Samsara environment. Frictional promises that every corner tells a story with something hiding beneath the surface.
ONTOS runs on Frictional's new proprietary HPL4 engine and represents a significant production leap for the Swedish developer known for the Amnesia and Penumbra series. Kepler Interactive CEO Alexis Garavaryan called it "bold, unsettling and beautifully weird," highlighting how it brings together creative developers and Hollywood talent. I have to say that the game does look quite nice with strong art style but also enviromental detail.
The game was previously teased through an elaborate alternate reality game in September 2025, hidden within SOMA's 10th anniversary update. Players discovered mysterious social accounts and websites that hinted at ONTOS' philosophical themes before the official reveal.
ONTOS is available to wishlist now ahead of its 2026 release across PC and current-generation consoles.
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