As many fans had come to fear, Konami has officially issued word this morning; Yes, the hotly anticipated horror game, Silent Hills has been cancelled, and the project as we know it is dead.
This is a colossal shame, considering the massive acclaim that came from P.T., a free PlayStation 4-exclusive demo for a mysterious horror project released last Summer, which, when completed, would reveal a teaser for Silent Hills, previously planned to be the latest installment in Konami’s beloved Silent Hill series of survival-horror games.
Fans initially grew nervous for the status of Silent Hills after the semi-publicized power struggles between Hideo Kojima and Konami, with Kojima believed to be leaving Konami after he completes development of this September’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, planned to be a finale for the Metal Gear Solid series from Kojima. Konami has now removed Kojima’s branding from games he participated in, namely the Metal Gear Solid games, the Zone of the Enders games and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. This suggests that the split between Kojima and Konami may not be on the best terms.
The fires of worry were fueled when Konami announced last week that they would be imminently removing P.T. from the PlayStation Store. One of the project’s collaborators, Hellboy director, Guillermo Del Toro, then confirmed yesterday that he was no longer involved in the project at the recent San Francisco Film Festival, and that this, “Broke his greasy heart.” Shortly thereafter, the game’s planned lead likeness, The Walking Dead actor, Norman Reedus, issued confirmation on his Twitter feed that his involvement with Konami was terminated, with Konami later confirming that Reedus’ option for Silent Hills had been allowed to expire. This of course culminated in Konami’s press release today, finally confirming that Silent Hills as a whole has been cancelled.
While this is a long and tragic string of events for what seemed like a dream video game project for fans and the developers/personalities alike, one that already had tons of positive attention from P.T., Konami has asserted that, while Silent Hills is dead, the Silent Hill series will continue in some other form. They also claim that they are attempting to negotiate a new project with both Kojima and Del Toro, though it’d be surprising if either party came to a new agreement with Konami at this point, frankly.
Regardless, keep scaring up Eggplante for all news and updates on the Silent Hill series.