David Bowie

Groundbreaking records, film cameos, new personas and daring gambles: the 1990s were, for David Bowie, a decade of experimental and tech-driven projects. Few, however, recall that the Thin White Duke went as far as stepping into a dystopian video game. It was "Omikron: The Nomad Soul", devised by visionary French developer David Cage. Now the game's senior designer, Phil Campbell, has revealed some previously unknown details of the story. "The list of bands Cage had considered included Björk, Radiohead, Future Sound Of London and Garbage — he told Mojo — I added Bowie because I'd been in the fan club since I was 11 and I knew he'd fit perfectly into the world we were building".

In 1998, Cage's Quantic Dream had teamed up with Eidos — the studio behind "Tomb Raider" — to develop one of the world's first "open world" games: an alternate reality to explore, in which to run, shoot and get shot at. Entering the game, the player could be reincarnated into various "souls" trapped in a dystopian era ruled by enigmatic demons. With its complex, mystical underlying "concept", "Omikron" seemed perfect for David Bowie. But his involvement in the game wasn't part of the original plan. "When we went to meet him, it was just about getting the licence for his existing music — Campbell explained — But he liked Cage's vision for Omikron — the idea of the player being pulled into this world, the themes of oppression and awakening — and he got excited about art director Loïc Normand's visuals. At the next meeting he brought Iman and Joe (Duncan Jones, ed.) along. Then he also brought his guitarist, Reeves Gabrels".

And so, instead of merely licensing his music, Bowie surprised Campbell by revealing he wanted to write new songs. To fully immerse himself in "Omikron", he joined the creative team for two weeks in a Paris apartment. Campbell also recalls seeing the software the English dandy used to do his William Burroughs-style cut-ups of lyrics: "He told me: 'I used to do it by hand, but now I've got this'".

Bowie fully immersed himself in the world of "Omikron", contributing to the story, the character design and even the conception of the game's universe. The unexpected involvement of the London-born artist in the project fuelled the team's creativity. A virtual rock band was devised, called The Dreamers, featuring Bowie, Gabrels and his band's bassist, Gail-Ann Dorsey. The game also featured three concerts by the band, performing three new Bowie songs: "Seven", "Survive" and "The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell".

But the involvement of Bowie's team didn't end there. One of the characters was a polygonal representation of Iman. Another was Boz, a kind of living hologram who led Omikron's resistance movement, called The Awakened. "I don't remember exactly when we decided Boz should be Bowie", Campbell tells Mojo. "Maybe it was just a gamble on our part. But he was super enthusiastic about it". And that's not all. "One day David asked me: 'Can I leave my Bowie persona inside Omikron and come out as David Jones?'", Campbell revealed. "It was a fascinating thought — was he perhaps longing for anonymity? — and it fit perfectly with the spirit of the game: Omikron was a giant trap, you could lose your soul in there forever".

"Omikron: The Nomad Soul", developed by Quantic Dream and released in 1999, stood out for its distinctive gaming experience. It blended elements of adventure, action and storytelling within a dystopian sci-fi universe, offering a depth and complexity rare for its time. The game achieved modest initial success, selling around 600,000 copies, but 500,000 of those were in Europe, while in the United States there was, in fact, virtually no promotion at all. Over time it was largely forgotten and, with the advance of new technology, also became difficult to play. It's no coincidence that Bowie fans launched an online petition calling for the game to be adapted for new-generation consoles.

There was, however, a second life for the songs from "Omikron", which resurfaced — with some changes — on David Bowie's 1999 album, "Hours". The game's main theme was reworked as "New Angels Of Promise", while the album cover (a 1999 Bowie cradling his younger self, in a pose inspired by the Pietà) echoed the game's theme of regeneration. "Omikron"'s themes — fluid identity, virtual reality, the fight against an oppressive system — shaped the lyrics of "Hours...", in which Bowie explored ideas such as the nature of consciousness and identity (reflected in songs like "Thursday's Child"), the conflict between reality and illusion ("The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell") and the search for meaning in a digitised world ("If I'm Dreaming My Life"). A further confirmation of the futuristic, cross-media vision that always inspired the Thin White Duke.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

17/01/2026