For fans of the well-instated Silent Hill franchise from Konami, you should already be aware that the series as of now has yet to really approach the market with a new and invigorating title for a couple years now. Most notably, the last mainline installment records back to 2012 with Silent Hill: Downpour alongside Silent Hill: Book of Memories which released exclusively on the PlayStation Vita.
And despite this long-term hiatus of the franchise, there were plans for a coming installment in the mid-2010 with Silent Hills, but was met with an unfortunate indefinite stop in production as Hideo Kojima swiftly departed from Konami in 2015. But despite the project now in shambles, there is word that the series is planned to return in the coming future.
If you remember from January earlier this year, on known leaker in the Silent Hill community disclosed that Konami was in search for a development team with ambitions to create a light-reboot of the series as well as a spin-off episodic experience also. Now, new word comes out that seemingly expands on the topic and continues to fuel this hopeful fire.
According to thriller game-centered outlet Rely on Horror, the website discloses to have sources who validated the previous claims and expands that developers involved with the original series is also part of the development team.
Our first source, who we’ve come to trust well, indicates that Keiichiro Toyama (director and writer of the original 1999 Silent Hill) and Akira Yamaoka (composer for the majority of the franchise) are also returning alongside Masahiro Ito. The trio will helm a “soft reboot” of the Silent Hill series, possibly just called Silent Hill.
The anonymous source who is familiar with the game’s development tells that Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Studio is involved to some capacity: the developer’s attachment to the project also subjects speculation to being a potential PlayStation 5 exclusive property from both parties.
The source then expands to disclose that ‘Project Siren’, the band of developers who worked on Siren: Blood Curse, will have some team members working on the rebooted title. Adding on, the project despite only coming to fruition recently has been shared to already exceed a year into development currently.
While on the other hand, a second source told the website that the previously scrapped Silent Hills is on the verge of being resurrected. “Sony is working to patch up the relationship between Kojima Productions and Konami in order to resurrect the game due to the amount of buzz and continued demand for it five years after its cancellation,” the source now verifies to Rely on Horror.
Interesting enough, more information continued on from the initial source which shared that the project does have ambitions to utilize the next-generation PlayStation VR headset. The source also proclaims that Kojima was pressed by Sony to interpret the game, if fully reinstated, to pursue a “TellTale/Supermassive narrative-driven” route to provide more creative flexibility when developments starts for the title.
Rely on Horror concluding on the report does clarify that the titular reboot is the only project in development whilst Silent Hills is still being negotiated between Kojima Productions and Konami. Whether or not these claims happen to be legitimate, the outlet emphasizes its trust on the unnamed sources and suggests taking the information as a rumor until being properly announced.
Which Silent Hill project are you most excited to see first if they happen to become a reality?
Source: Rely on Horror
