Silent Hills

Silent Hills
Production Information
Developer:	Kojima Productions
Publisher:	Konami
Platforms:	PlayStation 4
Release Date(s):	Cancelled
Ratings
ESRB:	M

Silent Hills is a cancelled Silent Hill game for the PlayStation 4. It was supposed to be developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami. Silent Hills would have been directed by Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro and Junji Ito, and starred Norman Reedus.

Development

In September 2012, Konami's president asked Hideo Kojima, producer of Konami's Metal Gear Solid series, to direct the next Silent Hill installment, to which he said he would love to, using the graphic technology known as the Fox Engine. When asked about the project, Kojima stated:

“

Honestly, I'm kind of a scaredy-cat when it comes to horror movies, so I’m not confident I can do it. At the same time, there’s a certain type of horror that only people who are scared of can create, so maybe it’s something I can do. That said, I think Silent Hill has a certain atmosphere. I think it has to continue, and I’d love to help it continue, and if I can help by supervising or lending the technology of the FOX Engine, then I’d love to participate in that respect.

”

Masahiro Ito stated that he would be willing to work on another Silent Hill game with Hideo Kojima. Akira Yamaoka said he would be "happy" to compose music as well.

P.T.

P.T.

Main article: P.T.

On August 12th, 2014, Sony announced that an interactive teaser called P.T. (which stands for "Playable Teaser") by fake developer "7780s Studio" was made available on the PlayStation Store exclusive to PlayStation 4. Upon completion of P.T., its true identity is revealed to be a teaser of the upcoming Silent Hills.

P.T. begins with an unknown protagonist waking up in a mysterious house which eventually becomes haunted in a first-person gameplay style. The demo showcases the realistic graphics of the Fox Engine. The demo intentionally features no blatant Silent Hill references (aside from "Lisa" written on a wall), as to not prematurely expose the reveal. At the end of the demo, the protagonist wakes up in Silent Hill. Silent Hills would apparently feature a character (or main character) voiced by The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus and designed in his likeness.

Kojima revealed that he wanted to make Silent Hills so scary that it could "shit the player's pants", and that the 7780 Studios received its name from the square kilometer area of Shizuoka, a Japanese prefecture which literally translates to "Quiet Hills". Many Japanese people simply refer to the horror game series as Shizuoka.

Cancellation

In March 2015, it was announced that Konami would fire Kojima by the end of the year due to "fallout" and "power struggles". The fate of Silent Hills remained unknown. Konami locked Kojima in a separate room during the final months of the development of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

Eventually, Guillermo del Toro revealed Silent Hills was cancelled, causing much fan outcry and disappointment towards Konami. He said, "It makes no fucking sense at all that that game is not happening. Makes no fucking sense at all." He later said "Fuck Konami". This statement sparked the "#FuckKonami" tag, which is often used by disappointed fans of Konami's series.

After announcing the cancellation of Silent Hills, Konami removed P.T. from the PS4 store. This prompted former Silent Hills developer Guillermo del Toro to criticize Konami's "scorched earth" approach to removing all traces of P.T. and Silent Hills.

In December 2015, Kojima's employment contract with Konami was officially terminated, and he reformed Kojima Productions as a new independent studio that is no longer part of Konami.

Aftermath

During Sony Interactive Entertainment's E3 2016 press conference, the reformed Kojima Productions unveiled a new game, Death Stranding, which also features Reedus. Death Stranding was released on November 8, 2019 to generally favourable reviews.

In regards to another official Silent Hill entry by Konami (such as another main installment after Silent Hill: Downpour), Konami said, "Konami is committed to new Silent Hill titles". However, since the cancellation of Silent Hills, Konami has only announced and released a pachislot based on Silent Hill 2.

Gallery

The protagonist of P.T., who would have been a character in Silent Hills, with the likeness of Norman Reedus.

The town of Silent Hill at the end of P.T., which is presumably what Silent Hill would look like in Silent Hills.