The Silent Hill franchise seems to be showing signs of life, as Konami has launched a new website for the survival horror series and announced a Silent Hill Transmission slated for October 19, promising to bring news about the series' future. This announcement comes off a string of rumors and leaks regarding a reboot of the Silent Hill franchise, with a potential remake also on the way.
This year has been a whirlwind of news and rumors regarding the Silent Hill franchise. Multiple insiders across the internet have claimed Konami intends to bring back the beloved horror series by outsourcing multiple projects to various studios. One of which includes a remake of the PS2 classic Silent Hill 2 led by Layers of Fear studio, Bloober Team. Most recently, fans have discovered the existence of a currently unannounced Silent Hill project titled The Short Message via a South Korean rating board. Additionally, movie director Christophe Gans has stated that Team Silent is working on multiple Silent Hill projects that will “revive the franchise.”
All of these developments have finally culminated in Konami itself confirming that Silent Hill is back in some capacity and announcing a Silent Hill Transmission for Wednesday, October 19, at 2 pm PDT. The Silent Hill Transmission will bring updates about the survival horror series in what will presumably be a live-stream format. Accompanying today's announcement is the launch of a new Silent Hill webpage on Konami’s website, displaying a new logo for the franchise but not showing users anything else.
Masahito Ito, art director for Team Silent from 1999 to 2007, has retweeted the announcement, raising questions about what teams could be involved with Wednesday’s announcement and potentially confirming Christophe Gans’s claims. Silent Hill’s revival may not be the only franchise Konami intends to bring back in the coming years. As reported by the VGC last year, Konami intends to revive their classic Castlevania and Metal Gear Solid IPs with new games and remakes as well, but it seems like Silent Hill has been designated as the first franchise to showcase what Konami has been working on for the past few years.
Historically, the Silent Hill franchise and PlayStation have had a very good working relationship, raising the question of a potential exclusivity deal for the franchise going forward. Throughout the past year, a recurring detail in the slew of Silent Hill leaks and rumors was the subject of a PS5 exclusivity deal. Perhaps Wednesday’s Silent Hill Transmission may be a precursor to even more Silent Hill news at a potential PlayStation Showcase.
Silent Hill video game projects are rumored to be in development.