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Despite Death Stranding releasing just a few weeks ago, gamers are already looking forward to what’s next from Hideo Kojima and his team. Kojima Productions has teased that perhaps they’d get into film next, but what about their next video game? Well, we don’t know exactly what it will be, but this week quite a few people jumped on a tweet which they assumed was an announcement of a new Kojima horror game in development. We’re here to tell you to dial it back a little.
On November 22, Hideo Kojima tweeted about the Thai horror film The Eye (skip the American remake starring Jessica Alba). The tweet stated that to get in the right headspace to develop a horror game, he likes to watch horror movies. The Eye was one particular film he watched while working on P.T., though he never finished it because it was too scary. He posted that he perhaps intends to watch it again.
Some fans and media took this tweet as an announcement or tease that Kojima Productions is in the planning stages of a horror game, as the English language version of Kojima’s tweet alternates between past and present tense. “As to make the scariest horror game, I’ll watch the scary movies in order to awaken my horror soul. THE EYE is the Thai horror movie I rent when making PT but was too scary to finish watching. The package is scary so I rented the disc only. Will I be able to finish watching?”
As to make the scariest horror game, I’ll watch the scary movies in order to awaken my horror soul. THE EYE is the Thai horror movie I rent when making PT but was too scary to finish watching. The package is scary so I rented the disc only. Will I be able to finish watching? pic.twitter.com/BVwPruUAvt
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 22, 2019
Having speculated that Kojima’s translation was a little wonky and that this wasn’t about a present activity, I asked our contributor Kazuma to provide his own translation of the original Japanese tweet. Here’s what we got: “When creating a horror game I will watch scary movies to awaken the soul of horror (horror soul). I rented the Thai horror film THE EYE when I was creating P.T., but found it too scary to finish. The visual on the sleeve was so frightening I only rented the disc this time. I wonder if I can watch it to the end.”
Our translation leans more heavily into Kojima speaking about the past, referencing how the film informed his work when he was working on P.T. and not that he’s actively trying to spark “the soul of horror” right now.
Kojima’s tweet is far from a confirmation that he’s working on a horror game. The alternative translation reinforces this. That said, the fact that Kojima is opting to even talk about a new attempt at watching a horror film, which he states he’s done in the past to inspire him, could very well be an indirect tease. There’s no doubt he’s aware of how ravenous his fanbase is for conspiracy theories. And he does enjoy playing them like a fiddle. But if Kojima was planning on bringing a full survival horror game to life, we should expect a few more months of cryptic tweets and Instagram posts about horror things. Then we’ll know something is up.
