Highlights

  • The recent releases of Silent Hill media, including Silent Hill: The Short Message and Silent Hill: Ascension, have received negative reviews due to live-service monetization, as well as questionable writing and quality.
  • Silent Hill franchise is moving forward with multiple upcoming titles, including the highly anticipated Silent Hill 2 Remake, Silent Hill F set in 1960s Japan, and Silent Hill: Townfall developed by No Code and Annapurna Interactive.
  • There are rumors of potential ports of the original Silent Hill trilogy to modern consoles, although no official announcements have been made.

It was lying dormant for quite some time, but it looks like Silent Hill is coming back with a vengeance. A few pieces of Silent Hill media have seen a recent release, while Konami has merely unveiled a few others. The Silent Hill rollout has been initiated, though it hasn't been an absolute success so far.

The long-awaited Silent Hill: The Short Message seems to be underperforming, landing a fairly negative critical response following its unexpected, free release on PS5. Last year also set the stage for the launch of Silent Hill: Ascension, an interactive, community-shaped episodic experience whose story is determined by votes from viewers. Unfortunately, Ascension hasn't enjoyed resounding success either, with critics citing live-service monetization and questionable writing as reasons to stay away. Despite these disappointing releases, the Silent Hill train is continuing to chug along, with multiple additional titles in the works.

silent hill 2 remake james looking scared in mirror
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Silent Hill 2 Remake's Reveal Sends the Wrong Message

Silent Hill 2 remake's latest trailer seems to be pointing to a change in direction that may not bode well for the series' upcoming iteration.

Games Confirmed for the Future of Silent Hill

Silent Hill 2 Remake

Arguably the most highly anticipated game in the upcoming Silent Hill release schedule, the remake of Silent Hill 2 was revealed in October 2022. Fans got another look at the game during Sony's February 1 State of Play showcase, which shed additional light on Bloober Team's take on Silent Hill 2's gameplay. The remake seems to be following in the footsteps of the recent Resident Evil remakes, in that it is a full reimagining of the original game, complete with a modern camera perspective and reworked mechanics. There is some apprehension surrounding this remake, mostly due to Bloober Team's patchy track record and Konami's history with the franchise.

The Silent Hill 2 remake, at the time of writing, does not have a release date, though it is expected to drop in 2024.

Silent Hill F

Compared to the Silent Hill 2 remake, not much is known about Silent Hill F. That said, there's reason to be optimistic about this bold new release, as it looks to be taking risks that could benefit the franchise. Silent Hill F will break series tradition by taking place in 1960s Japan rather than in the modern United States.

The game's decision to move away from the titular town of Silent Hill is certainly interesting, but many are most excited about the creative mind behind the game. The story of Silent Hill F will be penned by Ryukishi07, an acclaimed novelist and visual novel writer best known for the Higurashi: When They Cry series. Many fans are hopeful that Ryukishi07's mind-bending, psychological approach to horror storytelling will translate to Silent Hill F.

Silent Hill: Townfall

Silent Hill: Townfall is shrouded in mystery, even more so than the previously mentioned Silent Hill projects. Konami offered a short teaser trailer for the game in 2022, but virtually no new information has been revealed since. However, Townfall holds quite a bit of promise, as the game is being developed by not only No Code, the studio behind the well-received Stories Untold, but also Annapurna Interactive, the indie games giant responsible for titles like Outer Wilds and What Remains of Edith Finch.

Games Rumored for the Future of Silent Hill

Ports of the Original Silent Hill Trilogy

Konami hasn't made any official announcements yet, but comments made by The Short Message developer HexaDrive suggest that the first three Silent Hill games could be ported to modern consoles. In a recent interview, HexaDrive level designer Rika Miyatani stated that the studio was initially going to work on porting the original trilogy, but Konami wanted to pivot to The Short Message instead. Still, this only means that HexaDrive wasn't selected to port the original trilogy. Given how beloved the first three Silent Hill games are, it's conceivable that Konami would find another candidate to handle the ports.