Table of Contents
Stellan Skarsgård Joins Cast of Frictional’s New Narrative Mystery ONTOS
SOMA’s Spiritual Successor Unveiled During The Game Awards
During The Game Awards 2025, Frictional Games and publisher Kepler Interactive revealed ONTOS, a new sci-fi mystery thriller scheduled for release in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Positioned as a spiritual successor to the critically acclaimed SOMA, ONTOS aims to push the studio’s trademark philosophical storytelling into even stranger territory.
The reveal highlighted a standout casting choice. Golden Globe winner Stellan Skarsgård joins the project, signalling the scale and ambition of Frictional’s next narrative experience. Built using the studio’s new HPL4 engine, ONTOS promises a step forward in atmosphere, environmental detail and emotional storytelling.
Frictional describes the title as its most ambitious undertaking to date, combining choice-driven exploration, psychological tension and mysteries tied directly to the nature of reality. Creative director Thomas Grip noted that where SOMA dissected consciousness, the game aims to challenge players with questions about the structure of existence itself.
Aditi Amani’s Search Through Samsara’s Interconnected Ruins
Players take on the role of Aditi Amani, an engineer searching for answers about her estranged father. Her journey takes her to Samsara, a former mining colony converted into a repurposed lunar hotel. The environment functions as an open, interconnected labyrinth filled with abandoned machinery, sealed wings, hidden chambers and traces of failed experiments.
Frictional emphasises that there is no single solution to any obstacle in ONTOS. Players will scavenge items, operate complex mechanical systems and navigate morally charged encounters with the horrific Experiments scattered throughout Samsara. Each area tells its own story, and each tale hides something beneath the surface.
The experience leans heavily into environmental storytelling, challenging players to interpret clues and confront the consequences of their decisions. Samsara’s physical structure and narrative layout are designed to reflect the game’s core themes of perception, truth and the fluid nature of reality.
Kepler Interactive and Frictional Expand Their Collaboration
ONTOS marks a deepening partnership between Frictional Games and Kepler Interactive, the publisher behind titles such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, REMATCH, Pacific Drive and Sifu. Kepler CEO Alexis Garavaryan described ONTOS as bold, unsettling and “beautifully weird”, praising its blend of auteur-driven direction and cinematic talent.
The announcement follows an extensive ARG launched in September 2025. Players who explored SOMA’s tenth anniversary update discovered hidden clues that branched into websites, cryptic social posts and encoded messages, all foreshadowing ONTOS’s themes and locations.
Players can wishlist ONTOS now on all supported platforms, with more reveals expected throughout 2026.
