Frictional Games Delays Ontos to 2027 for Increased Scope
Frictional Games has officially delayed its upcoming sci-fi mystery title, Ontos, moving its release window from 2026 to 2027. The developer announced the decision in a post on the game's official X (formerly Twitter) account on July 2, 2026.
In the statement, the studio attributed the delay to the project's expanded scope. "Ontos is our most ambitious game to date, both in terms of its size and scale, and in the depth and layers of our story and gameplay," Frictional Games wrote. "In order to deliver this vision, we have decided to push the release of Ontos to 2027."
Ontos promotional art.
The game was first revealed at The Game Awards in December 2025 with a general 2026 release window. This marks the first entirely new project from the acclaimed horror developer since the release of Soma in 2015. The studio also stated it looks forward to sharing more updates about the game's characters and world in the near future.
Investigating the Lunar Mystery of the Samsara Hotel
The narrative of Ontos will unfold within the enigmatic Samsara, a repurposed luxury hotel located on the lunar surface. The game was first revealed at The Game Awards in December 2025, according to sources covering the announcement. This setting marks a stark contrast to Frictional Games' previous underwater horror in Soma, shifting the existential mystery into space.
Players will assume the role of Aditi Amani, who is drawn to the Samsara moon hotel by the cryptic legacy of her estranged father. As detailed in source material, the story begins as a personal investigation into his activities but "quickly spirals into something far stranger." The Samsara outpost is described as a place "where reality fractures," pushing Aditi to confront "disturbing revelations about the nature of existence — and your place in it."
Acclaimed actor Stellan Skarsgård will lend his voice to the game, as confirmed in multiple sources. While his specific role remains undisclosed, his involvement adds a notable star presence to the project. Skarsgård is widely recognized for his roles in major films and series such as Dune and the Star Wars spin-off Andor.
The premise positions Ontos as a sci-fi mystery where the player's search for answers is deeply personal. Guided by fragments of her father's past, Aditi Amani must navigate the deceptive environment of the Samsara hotel, where the very nature of truth and reality is in question.
The mysterious lunar setting of Ontos.
Tactile Gameplay and Existential Terror Mechanics
Ontos will shift Frictional Games' gameplay formula from direct horror to a tactile, systems-driven experience focused on "deep existential terror," according to official descriptions.
The game is described on its Steam page as an "immersive narrative with a tactile, systems-driven gameplay experience." This represents a significant departure from the studio's signature Amnesia series, which relied on immediate, visceral scares. Instead, players will engage with the environment through scavenging, manipulating intricate machinery, and calibrating analog systems, where "ingenuity and research are your greatest weapons."
The shifting gameplay style of Ontos.
Frictional Games has explicitly stated that Ontos is not designed to be "a stressful or scary game in the traditional sense." The studio's goal, as detailed in a January announcement, is to evoke a "deep existential terror that stays long after you finish playing," with players grappling with "heavy and thought provoking themes." This approach mirrors the lasting psychological impact of their 2015 title, Soma, more than the immediate frights of Amnesia.
The core gameplay loop will involve hands-on interaction with the lunar environment of the Samsara hotel. Players are expected to solve problems not through traditional combat or stealth, but by physically operating and calibrating machinery, suggesting a puzzle-heavy experience rooted in environmental manipulation and systemic understanding.
For players, this signals a move from Frictional Games as a pure horror developer to a creator of sophisticated psychological thrillers. The emphasis on tactile systems and existential dread over jump scares aims to create a more contemplative and lingering sense of unease, challenging players intellectually as much as it does instinctively.
Frictional's Evolution from Amnesia to Soma and Beyond
Frictional Games' upcoming title Ontos represents the latest evolution for a studio that has repeatedly redefined narrative horror, building directly upon the legacy of its seminal titles Amnesia and Soma.
The studio first achieved widespread acclaim with Amnesia: The Dark Descent in 2010, a game that popularized a "run and hide" formula of visceral, immediate terror. This established Frictional's reputation for crafting intensely atmospheric and stressful horror experiences. However, the studio pivoted dramatically with 2015's Soma, a deep-sea sci-fi thriller that traded conventional scares for profound philosophical inquiry. As noted in coverage of the Ontos delay, while Amnesia elicited reactions "in the moment," it was Soma that left a lasting, existential impact on players, a quality Frictional now aims to expand upon.
Ontos gameplay
Ontos is positioned as the direct follow-up to that narrative approach, being the studio's first entirely new game since Soma. According to their delay announcement, the project is their "most ambitious game to date," suggesting a continued commitment to complex themes over traditional horror. The studio had previously indicated it would "cut back a bit" from horror, focusing instead on games that would still "feel like Frictional ones," a philosophy evident in Ontos's described "deep existential terror."
The game will continue Frictional's presence on major platforms, targeting a release on PS5 and Steam in 2027. By building on the narrative depth of Soma and the immersive, tactile gameplay the studio has honed since Amnesia, Ontos aims to be the next step in Frictional's journey from crafting iconic horror to exploring unsettling existential mysteries.