Hideo Kojima’s upcoming horror game OD has a wild development story that just got weirder. According to new reports, Eidos Montreal worked on the game for approximately one year in 2023, with the project internally codenamed P21. Development came to an abrupt halt when Kojima Productions requested that the team relocate to Japan, resulting in Eidos Montreal being completely severed from the project. Around 20 developers from the studio were involved with OD before Kojima pulled the plug on their involvement, and unsurprisingly, most of them declined the invitation to uproot their lives and move halfway across the world.
Why Kojima Wanted Everyone in Japan
Kojima is famously hands-on with his projects, preferring to have development teams physically close so he can maintain direct creative control. The director has built his reputation on obsessive attention to detail and unconventional creative processes that require constant collaboration. For OD, Kojima is assembling what he calls a “Seven Samurai” team, inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s classic film, with himself as the leader and seven additional key members working on different chapters or episodes of the game.
The problem is that Kojima Productions is based in Tokyo, and Japanese work culture is notoriously intense. Multiple sources who visited Japan have noted that it’s common for employees to work throughout the day, socialize with supervisors over drinks in the evening, and head home around 3 AM only to be expected back at work early the next morning. The work-life balance in Canada, where Eidos Montreal is located, is dramatically different. Given these cultural differences, it’s not surprising that roughly 20 developers chose to stay in Montreal rather than accept Kojima’s relocation demand.
What Is OD
OD, formerly known as Overdose, is an upcoming horror game exploring the concept of overdosing on fear and pushing players’ fear thresholds to their limits. Kojima Productions announced the project at The Game Awards 2023 in partnership with Xbox Game Studios and filmmaker Jordan Peele, who co-wrote the game with Kojima. The cast includes Sophia Lillis from the IT films, Hunter Schafer from Euphoria, and Udo Kier in a posthumous appearance.
The game is structured as an anthology with episodic releases, potentially launching episodes every few months rather than as a single complete package. OD is being built using Unreal Engine 5, MetaHuman technology, and cloud gaming platforms to blur the boundaries between gaming and film. Kojima has described it as something totally different that will polarize audiences, with players either loving it or hating it. Development has already been described as haunted, with Kojima revealing strange sounds occurring in the studio during production.
Phil Spencer confirmed in October 2025 that OD has been delayed with no specific release date decided yet. The 2023 Screen Actors Guild strike pushed back development considerably, and the game is expected to remain in incubation for at least a few more years before release. It will be a day-one Xbox Game Pass title when it eventually launches.
Eidos Montreal’s Downward Spiral
The OD situation is just one more chapter in Eidos Montreal’s ongoing collapse under Embracer Group ownership. The studio has transitioned from creating critically acclaimed original games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the modern Tomb Raider trilogy to primarily functioning as a support studio for other developers. Currently, Eidos Montreal is working on Grounded 2 for Obsidian Entertainment and was heavily involved with Fable for Playground Games from 2022 until early 2025, when Microsoft chose not to renew the contract.
The studio experienced at least a dozen layoffs in late November 2025, on top of 75 employees cut in March 2025 and 97 workers dismissed in early 2024. Most internal projects have been cancelled, including a dark fantasy action RPG that would have rebooted Legacy of Kain, a sci-fi stealth game believed to be a new Deus Ex installment, and several other unannounced titles. The gap between their current project (P11, an open-world action-adventure game) and their next prototyped project (P22) suggests approximately 10 projects were cancelled in between.
Support Studio Culture
Eidos Montreal’s involvement with OD makes sense in the context of Xbox’s strategy for utilizing support studios. Since OD is being published by Xbox Game Studios, and Eidos Montreal was already providing support work for Xbox projects like Fable and Grounded 2, bringing them onto Kojima’s project fit the existing business relationship. Many fans initially found it strange that Eidos Montreal would work on a Kojima Productions title, but the studio has been functioning primarily as a support developer for several years now.
This trend isn’t unique to Eidos Montreal. Multiple Microsoft-owned studios are increasingly transitioning into support roles for larger flagship projects rather than developing their own games. Without the Xbox support contracts, Eidos Montreal would likely have already been shut down by Embracer. The studio’s survival now depends entirely on securing outsourcing work from publishers like Microsoft, since their parent company has demonstrated zero interest in funding original internal projects.
FAQs
What is Hideo Kojima’s OD game about?
OD (formerly Overdose) is a horror game exploring the concept of overdosing on fear and testing players’ fear thresholds. It’s being developed by Kojima Productions in partnership with filmmaker Jordan Peele and published by Xbox Game Studios as an episodic anthology experience.
Why did Eidos Montreal stop working on OD?
Kojima Productions requested that the Eidos Montreal team working on OD relocate to Japan to work directly at Kojima Productions’ Tokyo studio. Most of the roughly 20 developers involved declined the relocation offer, resulting in the partnership ending after about one year of development in 2023.
When will OD be released?
OD has no confirmed release date. Xbox executive Phil Spencer stated in October 2025 that development was delayed due to the 2023 Screen Actors Guild strike. The game is expected to remain in development for several more years before release.
Who is in the cast of OD?
OD features Sophia Lillis from the IT films, Hunter Schafer from Euphoria, and Udo Kier in a posthumous appearance. The game is co-written by Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Jordan Peele.
What was Eidos Montreal’s project code for OD?
Eidos Montreal internally designated the OD project as P21. The studio worked on it for approximately one year in 2023 before the partnership with Kojima Productions ended.
Is Eidos Montreal closing down?
Eidos Montreal hasn’t been officially closed but has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs and cancelled most internal projects. The studio is now primarily functioning as a support developer for other companies’ games, including Xbox projects like Grounded 2 and Fable.
What other projects has Eidos Montreal cancelled?
Eidos Montreal cancelled a Legacy of Kain reboot (dark fantasy ARPG), a new Deus Ex game (sci-fi stealth), and approximately 10 other projects between P11 and P22 according to internal project numbering. The studio is currently finishing P11, an open-world action-adventure game due in 2026.
Conclusion
Kojima’s demand that Eidos Montreal relocate to Japan reveals a lot about his creative process and the challenges of international collaboration in game development. While his hands-on approach has produced masterpieces like Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, it also creates limitations when working with external studios that have their own cultures and employee commitments. For Eidos Montreal, losing the OD contract after a year of work is just another disappointment in a string of cancelled projects and broken partnerships. The studio that once defined modern action-adventure games with Deus Ex and Tomb Raider is now scrambling for support work contracts just to keep the lights on. As for OD, Kojima will presumably find developers willing to work in Tokyo under his notoriously demanding creative vision, but the loss of experienced talent from Eidos Montreal could impact the final product. Then again, Kojima has always thrived on chaos and unconventional development processes, so maybe this is all part of his plan.