ONTOS Gets 10-Minute Extended Gameplay Deep Dive — Frictional Reveals Its Disturbing Rat Server Experiment

Creative Director Thomas Grip says ONTOS is difficult to communicate through a short trailer because its focus is not a tight, fast gameplay loop. Instead, the game is designed around slower research, testing and a small number of important decisions.

The extended demonstration gives Frictional enough time to show that structure in action. Players explore the environment, study information about the people and experiments involved and use what they learn to decide how they want to proceed.

The centerpiece of the showcase is Crombie, who claims to exist inside a computer server connected to 60 living rats. Frictional deliberately uses the strange setup to challenge the player's assumptions about consciousness and identity.

Before reaching the main experiment, players can examine the surrounding laboratory and encounter smaller tests that provide clues about what is happening. Understanding the characters and their beliefs can also influence how players approach later conversations and decisions.

During Crombie's experiment, the player manipulates probes attached to the system while working with incomplete and potentially unreliable instructions. Following those instructions is only one possible approach.

Frictional says experiments can end in multiple ways and players may not immediately know every option available to them. The studio believes that discovering new information across repeated playthroughs will reveal additional approaches and give ONTOS significant replay value.

ONTOS continues the philosophical science-fiction direction associated with SOMA, but Frictional is expanding the concept with more systemic interaction and player-driven experimentation.

The story follows Aditi Amani, who travels to Samsara, a repurposed moon hotel built over a former mining colony. Her search for answers surrounding her estranged father leads into experiments, competing philosophical ideas and questions about the nature of reality itself.

ONTOS is currently planned for release in 2027. The game has been announced for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

No exact release date has been announced, but the extended gameplay showcase provides a much clearer picture of the investigative, systems-driven experience Frictional Games is building.