We wish we had Harry Mason’s radio set up to jingle every time the possibility of a new Silent Hill project surfaces on the internet but for now, we’ll just have to keep up with the predictions of internet sleuths and leakers.
Youtuber Ryan Stanford, aka AestheticGamer, has a decorated history when it comes to the accurate leaking of rumours about upcoming video games. In March of last year, Stanford prematurely commented on the development of Resident Evil 3 in great detail. The game was officially announced months later in December with a release date of April 3, 2020.
Now, Stanford has returned to Twitter to discuss the development of not one but two new Silent Hill games by gaming giant, Konami. In 2017 the developer announced that it would be focusing on mobile gaming going forward and since then, Konami has only really been responsible for the Pro-Evolution Franchise and the promotion of pachinko machines based on their most popular franchises, including Silent Hill.
Stanford, suggests, however, that Konami is working on a couple of titles, side by side in an effort to renew the beloved series. The first of these he calls ‘a soft-reboot’, which could mean a completely new title, set in the same universe as the existing series but following a new character and a new storyline to accommodate players that are completely unfamiliar with the previous games. The second title, says Stanford, is going to be an episodic game to go along with the reboot. Stanford likens this title to TellTale games and Until Dawn which we assume means that it will feature dialogue options and a butterfly effect system that values player decisions.
Finally, the Youtuber insists that he is not familiar with the inner workings of Konami but that he suspects the games will be officially announced sometime in 2020 since Konami began discussions with other developers about the project(s) around two years ago.
The independent online publication dedicated to thriller and survival games Rely on Horror, has also published their two cents on the matter, claiming that sources of their own have verified Stanford’s leaks. While they were understandably unable to provide further details, they posited that the titles would most likely be announced at E3 or during a Sony State of Play presentation and would likely release on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, later this year.
When it comes to these rumours, we beg you to take it a huge grain of salt (at least the size of Pyramid Head’s Great Knife). This is pure speculation on our part and an admitted best guess on Stanford’s part that the games will be announced sometime this year, if at all. Still, it’s a lot of fun to discuss the possibility of returning to Silent Hill and with our fingers crossed, we’ll make sure to keep fans of the franchise and the horror genre alike up to date with more news on the matter.
