Silent Hill fans should keep their expectations for a reboot or revival in check. Publisher Konami denied rumors that it’s working with Sony on a new Silent Hills game, and it’s unclear when players might see a new entry.
Earlier this month, horror-focused media site Rely on Horror reported that Konami partnered with Sony’s Japan Studio to create a full reboot for the Silent Hill series, as well as a revival of the canceled Silent Hills game with Kojima Productions. The latter was described as a Telltale-like game that focused heavily on narrative. Rely on Horror said it had multiple sources corroborating this information.
However, those reports are completely inaccurate, according to Konami.
“We’re aware of all the rumors and reports but can confirm that they are not true,” a Konami representative told the site. “I know it’s not the answer your fans may want to hear.”
Whether this is Konami’s way of keeping its in-development games a secret remains to be seen, but the company has not forgotten the Silent Hill franchise entirely. It said in January that it was soliciting players’ feedback to determine how best to develop the next game. At the time, another rumor was spreading that two Silent Hill games were in development, with one using an episodic format.
Should Hideo Kojima work with Konami again on a future project, it would be a significant shift in their relationship. The auteur game maker left Konami in late 2015, shortly after Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain released. Konami legally prevented him from attending The Game Awards that year.
Silent Hills, created in collaboration with Norman Reedus and film director Guillermo del Toro, was canceled several months prior to his departure, but the three would again work together on Death Stranding. Reedus has since said he’s discussing another project with Kojima, but hasn’t indicated whether it’s related to Death Stranding, Silent Hills, or something else.
In the meantime, Silent Hill’s main competitor Resident Evil is here to pick up the slack. The Resident Evil 3 remake and Resident Evil: Resistance are both just a few weeks away, and it has been rumored that the unannounced Resident Evil 8 will return to a first-person perspective and protagonist Ethan Winters from Resident Evil 7.