Kojima says OD and Physint are both affected by the SAG strike
“For O.Dwe developed the game and scanned the actors and the environment,” Kojima said via X (formerly Twitter). “In the second half of the year, scanning and filming were suspended due to the SAG strike. Casting was also suspended Doctor because of the strike. We hope to continue again next year.”
Early gameplay footage of O.D – known at the time as Overdose — appeared online in November 2022 before the Xbox exclusive was officially unveiled at The Game Awards a year later. Kojima teased the project alongside director and collaborator Jordan Peele with a video featuring actor Sophia Lillis (It, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), Hunter Schafer (Euphoria, Cuckoo), and Udo Kier (Hunters, Bacurau) reciting a pangram in what appears to be the famous Kojima Productions 3D model scanning machine.
Even less is known about it Doctorwhich is itself a working title. The PlayStation exclusive game is apparently intended to be Kojima’s return to the cinematic action-spy style he established with the Metal Gear series.
“I can’t tell you much right now,” Kojima said while announcing the project during a State of Play broadcast in January 2024, “but we plan to bring together cutting-edge technology and talent from around the world to (Doctor). Of course it is an interactive game, but at the same time it is also a film, in terms of appearance, story, theme, cast, acting, fashion and sound. With this title we hope to transcend the barrier between films and video games.”
Kojima further explained his motivations for creating it Doctor in February 2024, saying he was inspired to return to his roots after a health crisis.
The strike currently affecting O.D And Doctor development and other parts of the video game industry formally kicked off in July 2024. Organized by the Screen Actors Guild after negotiations broke down between the union and several major video game studios, the strike’s main concern is AI protection for actors in the struggle, the danger is that their performances will be recycled without payment or approval through generative technology.
“The bottom line is that if you have artists in front of you that help create the content that goes into your game, whether it’s voice content, whether it’s stunt work, whether it’s motion work… all of these artists deserve to be right to informed consent and fair compensation for the use of their image, their likeness or voice, their performance,” SAG-AFTRA director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said at the time. “It’s that simple.”