OD was purified in a traditional Japanese ceremony because it’s just that scary

OD was purified in a traditional Japanese ceremony because it’s just that scary
Images via HideoTube

Written by 

Megan Cooke

Published 

10th Feb 2024 21:54

How scary does a game have to be to need to be purified in a traditional Japanese ceremony?

We don’t know yet but we will soon since Hideo Kojima and Phil Spencer felt the need to do just that with their upcoming horror title OD.

Kojima took the Microsoft team to purify OD

Not much is known about Kojima’s upcoming title OD, also known as Overdose, but it sounds as though it is going to deal with some disturbing things as Kojima decided to get the game purified in a traditional Japanese ceremony.

Speaking in the latest HideoTube video, Kojima said: “You know how before making horror movies or dramas, people go to a shrine for Oharai? Well, this is a scary game, so we did the Oharai ceremony with Microsoft."

Reportedly, the Oharai ceremony is held twice annually, as well as on an ad hoc basis when the need arises, to cleanse people of any misfortune and help protect their body and mind.

While speaking, he showed a picture of himself and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer attending the ceremony with other members of the Microsoft team.

He went on to share that one of the sounds they had recorded was a mysterious clanging sound which happened periodically at night in the studio.

Kojima said: “Actually, my staff heard a clanging noise in our studio. The one you hear, actually, was a real sound we recorded.

“When the staff recorded in the studio all through the night, that sound was recorded like once every hour.

“So we should visit a more powerful place, like Mount Osore,” he concluded.

Kojima will trickle out details about OD

Sadly, the purification ceremony is the only new thing we learnt about OD, with Kojima stating that he won’t release any more details at the moment.

Instead, the developer said he would “be giving out information gradually.”

OD was announced at the Game Awards in December, with an unusual trailer that mostly featured zoomed in videos of people’s faces.

What we do know is that OD stars IT's Sophia Lillis, Euphoria's Hunter Schaefer, and character actor, Udo Kier

The game is also in collaboration with Jordan Peele, known for iconic meta horrors like Get Out, Us, and Nope.

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In short, it seems as though it is gonna be a while until we find out more about OD.

In the meantime, at least we know it will be scary.

Megan Cooke
About the author
Megan Cooke
Megan is GGRecon's Evening & Weekend News Writer. She has an undergraduate degree in Creative Writing and is working towards finishing her masters in Journalism. When she isn’t writing about games she can be found reading romance novels or playing cosy games like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, APICO, and Disney Dreamlight Valley.
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