Check out ONTOS, from the Creators of SOMA

Frictional Games, the studio behind SOMA and the Amnesia series, has announced ONTOS, a sci-fi mystery thriller launching in 2026. Described as a spiritual successor to SOMA, the game features Stellan Skarsgård in its cast and follows engineer Aditi Amani as she explores Samsara, a moon hotel built over a defunct mining colony, searching for answers about her missing father.

The game emphasizes open-ended problem-solving without single correct solutions, requiring you to scavenge resources, manipulate machinery, and make difficult moral choices while confronting dangerous Experiments throughout the interconnected facility.

Creative director Thomas Grip explains that while SOMA explored consciousness, ONTOS aims to examine reality itself, developed on their new HPL4 engine to deliver what he calls their most ambitious project yet in scope and thematic depth. The game was teased through an alternate reality game that began with hidden clues in SOMA's 10th anniversary update last September, leading players through mysterious websites and social accounts that hinted at the philosophical themes players will encounter.

In ONTOS, players will become Aditi Amani, a resourceful engineer, as she explores the repurposed moon hotel Samsara in search of the truth around her estranged father. Samsara is a vast labyrinth built atop the ruins of a failed mining colony, and players will explore this open, interconnected environment in their quest for the truth. Every corner of Samsara tells a story, and every story has something hiding beneath the surface, waiting to be found... 

Players will scavenge for helpful items, manipulate intricate machinery and face intense tests of morality as they encounter horrific Experiments throughout Samsara. There is no ‘one solution’ to the obstacles players will encounter in ONTOS. Players will need to use their wits and ingenuity to reach the narrative’s mysterious conclusions and face the consequences of their choices. 

“After more than 10 years of development it is incredibly exciting to finally announce ONTOS. This is easily our most ambitious project yet in terms of scope, production values and sheer thematic ambitions,” says Thomas Grip, creative director and co-founder of Frictional Games. “Where SOMA tackled consciousness, ONTOS aims to do the same thing with the very nature of reality. A lofty goal - yes - and a risky one too. I feel we have managed to create something that does just that though - a game that lets you actively engage with the mysteries of existence headfirst. I am personally dying to see how players react to it.” 

Developed using their new, proprietary HPL4 engine, Frictional Game’s most thought-provoking work yet will release in collaboration with Kepler Interactive, the publisher behind a curated collection of culturally resonant, bold and timeless games including Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Rematch, Sifu, Pacific Drive and Ultros. “Kepler is always drawn to teams like Frictional Games that share our passion for creativity and art that feels alive. ONTOS is bold, unsettling and beautifully weird. It’s the kind of project that captures the magic of true auteurs and Hollywood talent coming together to explore the strange and tell a story that could only exist in video games,” says Alexis Garavaryan, CEO of Kepler Interactive. 

ONTOS was previously teased back in September 2025 via an innovative and immersive ARG (Alternate Reality Game) made in collaboration with Kepler Interactive, ONTOS’ global publishing partner. Via a mysterious clue found in SOMA’s 10th anniversary update on PC, players could discover a series of social accounts, websites and strange messages that led them to uncover some early teases about ONTOS’ philosophical story themes and locations.  

Stay tuned to GamingTrend for more ONTOS news and info!