Highlights
- A cerebral horror successor to SOMA, releasing in 2026, prioritizes existential dread over traditional survival mechanics.
- Starring Stellan Skarsgård, the narrative follows Aditi’s investigation into a surreal Moon hotel where science meets faith.
- Traditional puzzles are replaced by non-linear exploration and interactive moral dilemmas designed to disturb rather than scare.
The masters of horror are back, but this time, they want to haunt your mind rather than just spike your heart rate. At The Game Awards 2025, Frictional Games officially revealed Ontos, a psychological horror game slated for release in 2026. Known for defining the genre with Amnesia: The Dark Descent and the philosophically crushing SOMA, the studio is taking a bold new direction. Published by Kepler Interactive, the game will launch on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and will be available as an Xbox Play Anywhere title.
If you’ve played Frictional's previous work, you know the drill: hide in a cupboard, don't look at the monster, and try not to hyperventilate. Ontos is tossing that playbook out the airlock. Creative Director Thomas Grip confirmed that the game is not designed to be "stressful or scary" in the traditional survival horror sense. The studio is deliberately moving away from the "primal sense of fear" that defined Amnesia.
Instead, the goal is to inflict a lasting "cerebral" impact. Grip describes the experience as a spiritual successor to SOMA, focusing on "encountering strange, often very disturbing, situations" rather than fleeing from lethal threats. The team aims to evoke a deep existential terror that lingers long after you put the controller down. A prime example given during the reveal at the Game Awards was a surreal encounter with a man trapped inside a computer server made entirely of rats—a scenario designed to provoke deep unease rather than panic, as reported by GamesRadar.
Stellan Skarsgård and the Secrets of Samsara
The narrative scope of Ontos appears massive, backed by the voice talent of Stellan Skarsgård. The story follows a protagonist named Aditi, who travels to "Samsara," an opulent hotel located on the moon. Built atop the ruins of a failed mining colony, this setting serves as the backdrop for a society split by philosophical factions where "science bleeds into faith."
Players will guide Aditi as she investigates a message from her estranged father, unearthing childhood mysteries along the way. Grip compared the game’s atmosphere and scale to Shadow of the Colossus, allowing for dense, interconnected exploration where objectives can be tackled in different orders.
The gameplay is evolving to match the narrative ambition. The traditional lock-and-key puzzles are gone, replaced by "interactive story scenes." These are discovery-based scenarios where solutions are not explicitly laid out. Players must figure out the best approach to moral dilemmas, with Grip noting that "it is also possible to screw it all up if you are not careful."
While there are still limited elements of "hide-and-seek," the studio promises these are almost always avoidable. The focus has shifted to a hands-on experience where players must grapple with heavy themes, such as the soul, suffering, and reality. For fans who loved how SOMA prioritized disturbing philosophical questions over monster encounters, Ontos looks set to prove that the horror of ideas can be far more terrifying than anything stalking you in the dark.
