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ONTOS Delayed to 2027 as Frictional Games Takes More Time
Frictional Games has delayed ONTOS from its original 2026 release window to 2027. The studio confirmed the move in a social media update, explaining that the extra time is needed to properly deliver what it calls its most ambitious game to date. A specific new release date has not been announced.
The delay will be disappointing for players who were hoping to experience ONTOS this year, especially after its reveal at The Game Awards 2025 immediately drew comparisons to SOMA. However, given Frictional’s reputation for carefully built atmosphere, psychological tension, and existential storytelling, the decision also makes sense.
This is not the kind of game that benefits from being rushed out before its ideas fully land.
Frictional Games’ Most Ambitious Project
According to Frictional Games, ONTOS has grown into the studio’s most ambitious project in terms of size, scale, narrative depth, and gameplay systems.
That is a bold statement from the developer behind Amnesia: The Dark Descent, SOMA, and Amnesia: The Bunker. Frictional has never needed blockbuster scale to make horror feel overwhelming, but the game appears to be pushing the studio into something broader and more structurally complex.
Rather than a straightforward survival horror game, ONTOS is being described as a sci-fi mystery thriller. The focus seems less about hiding from monsters and more about confronting strange moral situations, broken realities, and uncomfortable questions about identity, suffering, and existence.
Aditi Amani Enters the Moon Hotel Samsara
ONTOS follows Aditi Amani, who is drawn to Samsara, a repurposed hotel on the Moon, by the cryptic legacy of her estranged father.
What begins as a search for answers quickly becomes something far stranger. Samsara is not simply an abandoned lunar location. It is a place where reality has begun to fracture, forcing Aditi into unsettling encounters and experiments that challenge her understanding of herself and the world around her.
That setup is where the SOMA comparisons feel natural. Frictional is once again working within science fiction, but the real horror appears to come from thought, consequence, and the fear of what the truth might actually mean.
Targeting the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
ONTOS is currently planned for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.
The longer wait may sting, but it also gives Frictional Games more room to refine a project that clearly carries high expectations. After SOMA, many players have been waiting to see the studio return to cerebral sci-fi storytelling.
If the delay helps ONTOS deliver on that promise, 2027 may be a better window than a compromised 2026 launch.
