Every Silent Hill rumor that might be announced at Konami’s Silent Hill Transmission event - Polygon

On Wednesday, Konami volition officially kickstart Silent Hill with “the latest updates” connected a bid that has been dormant for a decade. It’s a infinitesimal that content-starved fans person been waiting for for years. But what volition beryllium shown?

We really person a decent idea, arsenic the rumor mill has been highly engaged astir Silent Hill for the champion portion of 2 years now. So active, successful fact, that it’s go alternatively confusing, with aggregate projects mooted, and aggregate developers said to beryllium progressive — immoderate caller to the series, immoderate not.

Here we bash our champion to benignant done the reporting retired determination and compile it into 4 main prospects. (Unless it’s three...)

Silent Hill: The Short Message — a playable teaser?

The astir factual motion of Silent Hill enactment successful the lead-up to Konami’s uncover lawsuit was the Korean crippled standing body’s classification of a crippled called Silent Hill: The Short Message. The steadfast is Uniana, which, as noted by Gematsu, regularly publishes Konami titles successful South Korea.

The rubric implies a little experience, and matches up with reports of a playable teaser successful the benignant of P.T., the infamous demo for the Kojima Productions’ canceled bid reboot, Silent Hills. Video Games Chronicle said that this teaser, codenamed Sakura, “is intended to beryllium released arsenic a escaped integer rubric to physique anticipation for the larger [Silent Hill] projects.” It is not wide if it is simply a wholly stand-alone acquisition oregon a preview of a caller Silent Hill game.

VGC besides linked the teaser to a bid of images purporting to beryllium from a caller Silent Hill crippled which leaked successful May 2022. Konami made a copyright assertion against the images successful an effort to instrumentality them offline (which some failed successful its purpose and confirmed their authenticity, arsenic specified claims thin to do).

Image: Masahiro Ito/Konami

The images are supposedly from 2020 and amusement a messy, dilapidated and trash-strewn room; a woman’s look styled similar a collage of scraps of paper, immoderate scrawled with messages similar “I hatred myself”; a screenshot of different messy country with substance overlaid; and 2 images of a hallway plastered successful post-it notes, with a fig covered successful blossom lurking astatine the end.

One of the second images is signed by Masahiro Ito, the creation manager and monster decorator who worked connected the archetypal 3 games and created the celebrated Pyramid Head character. Ito has said helium is moving arsenic portion of the halfway improvement squad of a new, unnamed game, and besides retweeted the authoritative announcement of Wednesday’s Silent Hill update

The creation is mysterious and evocative, though it’s important to retrieve that things whitethorn person changed successful the past 2 years. This remains the astir factual imaginable for Wednesday’s reveal, however. After the sensation caused by P.T., repeating the instrumentality with a caller teaser makes sense, and we tin adjacent anticipation for a simultaneous merchandise for The Short Message this week.

A new, mainline Silent Hill crippled — made successful Japan?

It’s logical that Konami’s efforts to revive the franchise would yet extremity successful a continuation oregon reboot of the main Silent Hill series. Multiple reports suggest that this is happening, though it’s not the lone Silent Hill task successful the works. NateTheHate, Jeff Grubb, and VGC each study proceeding that a “mainline entry” is successful the works alongside different projects.

That’s astir each that is known astir this project… unless the images mentioned supra are really related to the afloat caller crippled alternatively than the teaser, oregon the crippled and the teaser are intimately linked. Both of these are chiseled possibilities.

In February 2021, VGC reported that Konami had outsourced a Silent Hill task to “a salient Japanese developer.” This seems astir apt to beryllium the location of the caller mainline game, though VGC noted that the Japanese task was “something of a departure from past Silent Hill games.” It would besides beryllium a constituent of involvement due to the fact that Konami turned to a bid of Western developers to marque Silent Hill games aft 2004’s Silent Hill 4: The Room, with mixed results.

As good arsenic Ito, regular Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka has shared the announcement of Wednesday’s event. In 2021, successful a since-deleted video interview, Yamaoka said his adjacent task would beryllium “the 1 you’re hoping to perceive about.” It seems arsenic though Konami is making an effort to circular up astatine slightest a fewer cardinal members of archetypal developer Team Silent for its caller Silent Hill projects.

A remake of Silent Hill 2 — from Bloober Team

Polish developer Bloober Team, the fearfulness specializer that made Layers of Fear and The Medium, has been intimately linked to the Silent Hill bid since past year. Speculation began erstwhile CEO Peter Babieno told GamesIndustry.biz “we’ve been moving for much than a twelvemonth connected different gaming project, different fearfulness IP, and we’re doing this with a precise celebrated gaming publisher. I can’t archer you who. I can’t archer you what the task is, but I’m beauteous definite erstwhile radical recognize we’re moving connected it, they volition beryllium precise excited.”

That the IP would beryllium Silent Hill was much oregon little confirmed a fewer months aboriginal erstwhile Bloober announced it was entering a concern with Konami. Bloober was besides known to beryllium moving with Yamaoka connected a caller game, aft helium had contributed to the soundtrack for The Medium.

For a while, Bloober was assumed to beryllium starring Silent Hill reboot oregon continuation, until the reports from NateTheHate, Grubb, and VGC successful May this twelvemonth each linked the developer with a remake of 2001’s Silent Hill 2 — which is felt by astir fans to beryllium the champion crippled successful the series. If reports are accurate, it volition beryllium an extended reworking of the game, with aggregate caller endings and revised AI, animations, and puzzles. Some reports suggest the crippled volition beryllium a timed PlayStation exclusive.

Some very mediocre prime images purporting to beryllium of the Silent Hill 2 remake appeared connected Twitter successful September. Peering done the murk, they did look to lucifer assorted details of the game. Allegedly they are taken from a transportation demo Bloober made earlier the task was adjacent greenlit, and don’t bespeak its last quality.

An episodic bid of “short stories”

There’s a third, oregon fourth, Silent Hill task that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium successful production, but the grounds for this 1 is slighter.

Leaker Dusk Golem — liable for the large representation leak from the teaser oregon mainline crippled successful May — said that helium had heard arsenic aboriginal arsenic 2018 that Konami had been soliciting Silent Hill pitches from studios for 2 projects. One was a “reboot,” the different an “episodic game.” In May of this year, NateTheHate mentioned “side ‘stories’” arsenic a task successful development, and VGC referred to “a smaller, episodic bid of ‘short stories.’”

It’s been reported that Until Dawn and Dark Pictures developer Supermassive Games took portion successful this transportation process, but was yet rejected. Another sanction connected with the episodic bid by VGC’s sources was boutique steadfast Annapurna Interactive.

This is the vaguest imaginable — and it goes without saying that nary of these projects is confirmed, and they could each person been canceled oregon changed, adjacent if they are real. One happening is certain, though. With this overmuch rumor and reported activity, determination has been a batch going connected down the scenes connected Silent Hill for immoderate time. Konami seems determined to bring the bid backmost successful a large way, moving some with outer studios and immoderate of the series’ originating talents. Here’s hoping it volition person thing substantive to amusement for its efforts this week.