All the Silent Hill games stated to be in growth

Image: Konami

On Wednesday, Konami will officially kickstart Silent Hill with “the latest updates” on a collection that has actually been inactive for a years. It’s a minute that content-starved followers have actually been awaiting for many years. But what will be revealed?

We really have a suitable suggestion, as the report mill has actually been incredibly hectic around Silent Hill for the very best component of 2 years currently. So energetic, as a matter of fact, that it’s ended up being instead complicated, with several tasks mooted, and also several designers stated to be entailed — some brand-new to the collection, some not.

Here we do our finest to arrange with the reporting around and also assemble it right into 4 primary potential customers. (Unless it’s 3…)

Silent Hill: The Short Message — a usable intro?

The most concrete indication of Silent Hill task in the lead-up to Konami’s expose occasion was the Korean game ranking body’s category of a game called Silent Hill: The Short Message. The author is Uniana, which, as noted by Gematsu, routinely releases Konami titles in South Korea.

The title indicates a quick experience, and also pairs up with records of a usable intro in the design of P.T., the well known trial for the Kojima Productions’ terminated collection reboot, Silent Hills. Video Games Chronicle stated that this intro, codenamed Sakura, “is intended to be released as a free digital title to build anticipation for the larger [Silent Hill] projects.” It is unclear if it is an entirely stand-alone experience or a sneak peek of a brand-new Silent Hill game.

VGC likewise connected the intro to a collection of pictures professing to be from a brand-new Silent Hill game which leaked in May 2022. Konami made a copyright case versus the pictures in an initiative to take them offline (which both fell short in its goal and also validated their credibility, therefore insurance claims often tend to do).

Image: Masahiro Ito/Konami

The images are apparently from 2020 and also reveal an untidy, worn out and also trash-strewn space; a female’s face styled like a collection of scraps of paper, some inscribed with messages like “I hate myself”; a screenshot of one more untidy space with message overlaid; and also 2 pictures of a corridor smudged in post-it notes, with a number covered in bloom prowling at the end.

One of the last pictures is authorized by Masahiro Ito, the art supervisor and also beast developer that serviced the very first 3 games and also produced the renowned Pyramid Head personality. Ito has actually stated he is functioning as component of the core growth group of a brand-new, unrevealed game, as well as likewise retweeted the main news of Wednesday’s Silent Hill upgrade

The art is strange and also expressive, although it’s important to keep in mind that points might have transformed in the previous 2 years. This continues to be one of the most concrete possibility for Wednesday’s expose, nonetheless. After the feeling brought on by P.T., duplicating the technique with a brand-new intro makes good sense, and also we can also wish for a synchronised launch for The Short Message today.

A brand-new, mainline Silent Hill game — made in Japan?

It’s rational that Konami’s initiatives to revitalize the franchise business would inevitably finish in an extension or reboot of the primary Silent Hill collection. Multiple records recommend that this is occurring, although it’s not the only Silent Hill task in the jobs. NateTheHate, Jeff Grubb, and also VGC all record hearing that a “mainline entry” remains in the jobs along with various other tasks.

That’s regarding all that is found out about this task… unless the pictures discussed above are really associated with the complete brand-new game as opposed to the intro, or the game and also the intro are carefully connected. Both of these stand out opportunities.

In February 2021, VGC reported that Konami had actually contracted out a Silent Hill task to “a prominent Japanese developer.” This appears more than likely to be the residence of the brand-new mainline game, although VGC kept in mind that the Japanese task was “something of a departure from past Silent Hill games.” It would certainly likewise be a sight due to the fact that Konami relied on a collection of Western designers to make Silent Hill games after 2004’s Silent Hill 4: The Room, with blended outcomes.

As well as Ito, routine Silent Hill author Akira Yamaoka has shared the announcement of Wednesday’s occasion. In 2021, in a since-deleted video clip meeting, Yamaoka said his following task would certainly be “the one you’re hoping to hear about.” It appears as if Konami is making an initiative to assemble a minimum of a couple of vital participants of initial programmer Team Silent for its brand-new Silent Hill tasks.

A remake of Silent Hill 2 — from Bloober Team

Polish programmer Bloober Team, the scary expert that made Layers of Fear and also The Medium, has actually been carefully connected to the Silent Hill collection given that in 2014. Speculation started when chief executive officer Peter Babieno told GamesIndustry.biz “we’ve been working for more than a year on another gaming project, another horror IP, and we’re doing this with a very famous gaming publisher. I can’t tell you who. I can’t tell you what the project is, but I’m pretty sure when people realize we’re working on it, they will be very excited.”

That the IP would certainly be Silent Hill was basically validated a couple of months later on when Bloober introduced it was entering a partnership with Konami. Bloober was likewise understood to be collaborating with Yamaoka on a brand-new game, after he had actually added to the soundtrack for The Medium.

First dripped photo of Silent Hill 2 Remake apparently established by Bloober Team: pic.twitter.com/zZWYBqWq6o

— Andrew Marmo (@the_marmolade) September 4, 2022

For a while, Bloober was presumed to be leading Silent Hill reboot or extension, till the records from NateTheHate, Grubb, and also VGC in May this year all connected the programmer with a remake of 2001’s Silent Hill 2 — which is really felt by many followers to be the most effective game in the collection. If records are precise, it will certainly be a comprehensive reworking of the game, with several brand-new ends and also changed AI, computer animations, and also problems. Some records recommend the game will certainly be a timed PlayStation unique.

Some very poor quality images professing to be of the Silent Hill 2 remake showed up on Twitter in September. Peering with the murk, they did show up to match different information of the game. Allegedly they are extracted from a pitch trial Bloober made prior to the task was also greenlit, and also don’t show its last high quality.

An anecdotal collection of “short stories”

There’s a 3rd, or 4th, Silent Hill task that might or might not remain in manufacturing, however the proof for this is slighter.

Leaker Dusk Golem — in charge of the significant photo leakage from the intro or mainline game in May — stated that he had actually listened to as early as 2018 that Konami had actually been obtaining Silent Hill pitches from workshops for 2 tasks. One was a “reboot,” the various other an “episodic game.” In May of this year, NateTheHate discussed “side ‘stories’” as a job in growth, and also VGC described “a smaller, episodic series of ‘short stories.’”

It’s been reported that Until Dawn and also Dark Pictures programmer Supermassive Games participated in this pitch procedure, however was inevitably declined. Another name gotten in touch with the anecdotal collection by VGC’s resources was store author Annapurna Interactive.

This is the vaguest possibility — and also it do without stating that none of these tasks is validated, and also they can all have actually been terminated or transformed, also if they are actual. One point is particular, though. With this much report and also reported task, there has actually been a great deal taking place behind the scenes on Silent Hill for time. Konami appears identified to bring the collection back in a large method, functioning both with outside workshops and also several of the collection’ coming from skills. Here’s wishing it will certainly have something substantive to reveal for its initiatives today.

 

Source: Polygon