Hideo Kojima appears to have snuck a reference to Konami‘s Silent Hill series into his teaser trailer for OD.
The Xbox exclusive, which was previously known as Overdose, was officially introduced during The Game Awards last week, along with a teaser trailer showing close-ups of actors’ faces.
However, as spotted by Central Xbox, and verified by VGC using the trailer on the official Kojima Productions YouTube channel, the section involving German actor Udo Kier appears to have a hidden message in it.
While Kier is talking to the camera, faint letters appear in his mouth during five separate frames, which can be seen easier if the video’s brightness levels are adjusted (as we’ve done in the header image of this article, where you can see the letter A).
In order, the letters spell out ‘Atami’, which is a Japanese city located in Shizuoka Prefecture. The kanji spelling of Shizuoka is 静岡, and when separated into individual kanji, 静 means ‘calm’, ‘quiet’ or ‘silent’ and 岡 means ‘hill’.
It certainly appears, then, that Kojima is making a reference to Silent Hill in the trailer, but it’s not clear why.
In 2012, Kojima started working with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro on a new game in the Silent Hill series, titled Silent Hills, which was introduced via the notorious ‘PT’ demo.
The teaser ended with a reveal that it was actually a Silent Hill game starring Norman Reedus, but soon after this Kojima and Konami parted ways and the project was cancelled, with Reedus teaming up with Kojima for Death Stranding instead.
Assuming the letters are indeed a reference to Silent Hill, then, it’s not clear if they’re teasing that OD may actually be a Silent Hill title, or – as is more likely given the acrimonious nature of Kojima and Konami’s split – that this is simply Kojima referencing the horror game he didn’t get to make, during a trailer for one he’s making on his own terms.
It was also announced during The Game Awards that Kojima is working on OD with Nope and Us director Jordan Peele, along with numerous other yet-to-be revealed collaborative partners.
Michael Johnson is a tech enthusiast with a passion for all things digital. His articles cover the latest technological innovations, from artificial intelligence to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
