Frictional Games has revealed new gameplay from ONTOS, its upcoming psychological horror game, offering a much closer look at the disturbing experiments and environmental puzzles awaiting players on the Moon. The Gamescom footage follows protagonist Aditi Amani through Samsara, a repurposed lunar hotel where the remnants of human experimentation have transformed the location into something considerably more disturbing than an ordinary abandoned facility.
One of the most unsettling sequences shown involves a human consciousness being transferred into a server through a biological system involving living rats. The imagery is deliberately grotesque, but the scene also demonstrates what makes ONTOS different from a conventional survival-horror game. Rather than simply hiding from monsters, players are expected to investigate strange experiments, understand their purpose, and determine how to interact with systems that may have consequences beyond solving a single puzzle. That approach is consistent with Frictional’s broader philosophy for ONTOS. The studio has previously described the game as something that sits closer to a psychological science-fiction thriller than a traditional horror title. Its central “Experiments” are designed around open-ended problem solving, with players encouraged to interpret situations and find their own solutions rather than follow a single prescribed path.
The game’s setting is equally important to this design. Samsara is described as a vast, interconnected complex built around the ruins of a failed lunar mining colony. Players will explore laboratories, entertainment areas, caves, and other environments while collecting resources, manipulating machinery, and searching for clues. The result is a setting that functions as more than a backdrop: the hotel itself becomes part of the puzzle-solving experience. Frictional’s history with psychological horror makes the concept particularly intriguing. The studio previously developed SOMA, a game renowned for using science fiction to explore questions about consciousness, identity, and what it means to remain human. ONTOS appears to be continuing that tradition while giving players greater freedom to interact with its underlying philosophical problems.
The project has also been given additional development time. Originally planned for 2026, ONTOS was delayed to 2027, with Frictional saying that it needed more time to realize its ambitious vision. The game is currently planned for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. With the new footage revealing more about its experiments, puzzles, and unsettling science-fiction world, ONTOS is beginning to look less like another horror game and more like Frictional’s attempt to turn psychological horror into a large-scale interactive experiment.