Frictional Games Delays Psychological Thriller ONTOS to 2027 on PS5
Frictional Games and Kepler Interactive have delayed ONTOS, the SOMA developer’s next psychological thriller, out of its planned 2026 window and into 2027. The Swedish studio confirmed the shift in a statement posted to the game’s official X account, citing the scale of the project as the reason for the extra time.
Frictional’s Own Statement Confirms the Slip
Publisher Kepler Interactive and developer Frictional Games have delayed science-fiction mystery thriller ONTOS from its previously planned 2026 release window to 2027. It will be available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. The announcement, dated July 2 on the game’s social channels, leaves ONTOS without a firmer release window for now.
Explaining the call, Frictional Games said “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.” The studio added, “In order to deliver this vision, we have decided to push the release of ONTOS to 2027.” Frictional also promised further reveals before launch, noting it looks forward to sharing more updates about ONTOS, its characters, and its world soon.
From Alternate-Reality Teaser to a Decade-Long Project
ONTOS first surfaced publicly at The Game Awards in December 2025, though its groundwork stretches back much further. ONTOS was first teased in September 2025 through an alternate-reality game, with players discovering clues hidden within SOMA’s tenth anniversary update on PC that led to a trail of websites, social media accounts, and messages. Development itself has been underway far longer than the marketing campaign suggests.
Rely on Horror notes that the game was first planned for this year, but it did not have an exact release date, and now the Swedish studio says it needs more development time to reach the scale it wants. That ambition isn’t new framing invented for the delay: at the December reveal, Frictional co-founder and creative director Thomas Grip called ONTOS his studio’s most ambitious project yet in terms of scope and thematic reach.
Samsara, the Moon Hotel Where SOMA’s Successor Unfolds
ONTOS casts players as engineer Aditi Amani, whose search for answers about her estranged father draws her to Samsara. In ONTOS, players control Aditi Amani, a skilled engineer searching for answers about her estranged father, and her investigation leads her to Samsara, a vast, repurposed moon hotel constructed atop the remains of a failed mining colony. The project is built on Frictional’s own new engine, with the game being developed using Frictional Games’ new proprietary HPL4 engine.
The cast includes a recognisable Hollywood name: the project is being developed by the studio’s Swedish team and features a notable cast that includes Golden Globe winner Stellan Skarsgård. Frictional has repeatedly framed ONTOS as a spiritual successor to 2015’s SOMA, carrying forward that game’s fascination with consciousness and identity into a new philosophical mystery set among Samsara’s abandoned casinos, theatres and drained pools.
Why 2027 Looks Like the Safer Bet
ONTOS is far from alone in jumping to 2027. Several outlets covering the delay pointed to an increasingly packed back half of 2026, headlined by Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6, as a factor pushing mid-sized releases to reshuffle their calendars. Publishers weighing a crowded release window against a still-unfinished game have generally opted to protect the launch rather than the date.
For Frictional, a studio whose reputation rests on SOMA and the Amnesia series landing as tightly crafted, atmosphere-first horror, a clean runway in 2027 arguably matters more than hitting an initial 2026 target. Fans reacting to the news across social media and comment threads have largely echoed that sentiment, preferring a delayed ONTOS over a rushed one.
What Australian and NZ Fans Should Watch For
No regional pricing, ratings classification or local release window has been confirmed yet for Australia or New Zealand, and Frictional has not detailed a specific 2027 quarter. With ONTOS confirmed across PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, local players will have multiple storefronts to track as Kepler Interactive and Frictional share further character and world details in the months ahead.
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