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Next year marks the 10th anniversary of the last entry in Konami's iconic psychological horror franchise, Silent Hill. Ever since Silent Hill: Book of Memories launched on the PlayStation Vita in 2012, there's been demand from fans of the series for a new installment that takes advantage of modern technology. What has made the wait all the more agonizing is the fact that those wishes were almost granted via Hideo Kojima's Silent Hills, before the project was cancelled in the aftermath of the developer's public divorce from his longtime publishing partner in 2015.
Keeping in mind that timeline of events, and the manner in which Silent Hills was revealed via the PS4's deceptive P.T. demo, it's perhaps unsurprising that a whole slew of rumors have sprung up on the internet regarding the future of the series. Over the last few years a laundry list of developers, including Kojima himself, have all subsequently been linked to the Silent Hill franchise. While each rumor should naturally be taken with a grain of salt, there's enough smoke to suggest that Konami is trying to get an installment off the ground that capitalizes on the demand the alleged leaks have generated.
Sony's Internally Developed Silent Hill
Having played a hand in the launch of the P.T. demo back in 2014, Sony seems like a natural partner for Konami to team-up with for the theoretical revival of its horror franchise. It's probably in-part for this reason that the supposed insider rumors started with this premise and combination. Back in March 2020, several reputable sources claimed that Sony's own Japan Studio, which was at the time helmed by one of Silent Hill's original creators Keiichiro Toyama, was working on a soft-reboot of the series.
Rumors regarding Sony's potential internally developed involvement with the Silent Hill franchise came to a head during the summer of last year, in the run up to the PS5's official public unveiling. Between accidental retail listings, Konami's Twitter account releasing cryptic teases, and a deleted tweet from longtime franchise composer Akira Yamaoka, all signs suggested that the insiders were on the money. However, no announcement was made at either of Sony's PS5 showcases, and in the time since then the rumor has gradually been replaced with more popular reports.
In December, the idea of a Sony developed Silent Hill game all but perished, when Toyama and several other prominent developers left the publisher's Japan Studio before it was restructured earlier this year. Since then, uncorroborated claims have been occasionally made by the same insiders, stating that the project has been transferred to another Japanese developer. While it remains to be seen if these have any basis in reality, it's now harder to envision one of Sony's own first party studios working on the Silent Hill IP.
Kojima's Return to Silent Hill
At the same time that the Sony developed Silent Hill reboot rumors were doing the rounds in 2020, several insiders claimed that Konami was also trying to get a second game off the ground. One of the ideas that was suggested time and again was that Hideo Kojima had been asked to revive his canceled Silent Hills, with Sony's support and investment. Rumors linking Kojima Productions to the IP have refused to go away entirely ever since, and have at times been fueled by a number of different sources. Blue Box Game Studios, for example, seemingly utilized the idea to promote its own game Abandoned earlier this year, while Kojima himself has also become notorious on Twitter and Instagram for stoking the fires with cryptic Silent Hill-themed posts.
However, multiple credible insiders have come out to say, as recently as this week, that the Konami and Kojima partnership isn't happening. Based on reports from several reputable sources, it sounds like the famous Japanese developer is about to have his hands full, even if his relationship with Konami has been repaired behind the scenes. Between the rumored Death Stranding 2 and the studio's rumored collaboration with Microsoft, it's hard to imagine Kojima's name being associated with the Silent Hill series anytime soon.
Bloober Team's Silent Hill
Based on the number of rumors connecting different developers to the Silent Hill franchise over the last 12 months, it's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to envision Konami working behind the scenes to try and resurrect its dormant horror series. In February of this year, two European studios were also linked to the franchise via credible insider-backed rumors, one of which was the UK-based Supermassive Games. While it's been suggested that the studio's pitch has since fallen through, a second Bloober Team developed Silent Hill game was seemingly leaked at the same time, a rumor that has continued to gain traction.
Of all the Silent Hill leaks, the one surrounding the Polish studio is arguably the easiest to believe, due to the fact that members of Bloober Team have actually teased the game several times. Comments from the studio's CEO Piotr Babieno in February revealed that his studio was working on another horror game from a famous publisher. Only a few months later in June it was confirmed that the company behind the project was actually Konami, and that a deal had been struck that would see the two share technology.
With Konami's visible attempts to revitalize it's fading reputation, it's hard to envision it funding a horror game that doesn't utilize its iconic IP. Considering how crowded the Silent Hill rumor mill has gotten over the last few years, though, it's probably for the best that fans still take every tease, hint, and supposed lea, with a hefty grain of salt until the publisher announces something for certain.
No Silent Hill games have been officially announced as of yet.