Publisher Kepler Interactive and SOMA/Amnesia developer Frictional Games have announced ONTOS, a new narrative mystery game that serves as a successor to SOMA.

ONTOS is in development for Windows PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 with a release set for 2026.

“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 in a press release. “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.” 

Here’s a rundown on the game, plus its reveal trailer:

A sci-fi mystery set on the repurposed moon hotel Samsara. Uncover cryptic experiments, face unsettling encounters, and piece together a mind-bending narrative. The deeper you go, the more the truth unravels as you confront the ultimate question: What is reality?

Story

From the creators of SOMA comes ONTOS, a sci-fi adventure that takes you to the edge of reality. You are Aditi Amani, invited to the repurposed moon hotel Samsara by the cryptic legacy of your estranged father, a brilliant mind-turned-prophet. What begins as a search for answers quickly spirals into something far stranger. Samsara is no ordinary outpost, but a place where reality fractures, where truths are buried beneath layers of deception and obscurity. As you delve deeper, guided by fragments of your father’s past, you must confront disturbing revelations about the nature of existence – and your place in it.

Experiments

ONTOS presents a gauntlet of chilling experiments and disturbing encounters that push the boundaries of both science and morality. Each test invites you to peel back another layer of a world that takes you one step closer to the ultimate truth. Confront existential questions that will make you question the nature of the soul, suffering, and the very fabric of reality itself. These trials are not just puzzles—they are provocations. Your choices echo forward, and you must be prepared to face the consequences. Foresight is paramount, but even what you judge to be the best moral actions can lead to devastating outcomes.

Gameplay

At its core, ONTOS is an immersive narrative with a tactile, systems-driven gameplay experience. Ingenuity and research are your greatest weapons. You’ll scavenge materials, manipulate intricate machinery, and engage with analog systems requiring careful calibration and hands-on interaction. Planning is key, choose wisely or suffer the consequences. There’s no ‘one solution’; instead, the goal is what you can make of a situation.

Exploration

The moon base Samsara is a vast, interconnected labyrinth built atop the ruins of a failed mining colony and an opulent hotel lost to time. Now, it’s a domain carved up by philosophical factions, where science bleeds into faith. Venture through repurposed spaces where the surreal becomes captivating; labs built in lavish casinos and dramatic theatre stages; experiments set up in emptied pools; strange machines built in ancient moon caves, and much more. Every corner of Samsara tells a story, and every story has something hiding beneath the surface, waiting to be found…