Speculation and reports are swirling that Konami may have potentially two Silent Hill games in development, one of which may be coming from horror game developer Bloober Team.
Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno, whose studio recently released The Medium, told GamesIndustry.biz that they have been working on “another horror IP” for more than a year with “a very famous gaming publisher.” Many are speculating that this mysterious publisher is Konami and that the IP is Silent Hill. “I can’t tell you what the project is,” said Babieno, “but I’m pretty sure when people realize we’re working on it, they will be very excited.”
VGC subsequently reported that, in addition to this potential Silent Hill project, VGC’s sources indicate that Konami has “outsourced a Silent Hill project to a prominent Japanese developer,” with the current plan being to reveal the project this summer. The developer in question is unknown. VGC also adds that two of its sources say that Konami had previously reached out to Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games to potentially create a reboot for the series, though nothing came of those conversations.
If Bloober Team is indeed working on Silent Hill and the report from VGC is accurate, this would line up with a rumor from early last year that suggested Konami had two new Silent Hill games in the works, but of course nothing is confirmed.
Rumors that fans will return to Silent Hill in some form have been circulating for some time, with some claiming that Sony is working on its own reboot and others (incorrectly) predicting that an announcement was supposed to happen during The Game Awards last year. Despite Konami’s desire to shut down talk of another Silent Hill, speculation was kicked up again this month thanks to an interview with series composer Akira Yamaoka, who said he’s working on a game that “people have been hoping to hear about.” Yamaoka also helped Bloober with music for The Medium, so it’s not surprising to see speculation at an all-time high.
It’s hard to guess what direction a Bloober-led Silent Hill game would take, but Babieno said to GamesIndustry.biz that the studio might lean more into action in the future. The Medium is “a project on the edge” of the studio’s old approach and what it hopes to accomplish moving forward. Babieno also commented on the fact that many horror-focused studios have shifted more in the direction of action in hopes of appealing to a wider audience and what that means for Bloober:
“We’ve been having that conversation for three years. Because we realized we’re in a niche, and we would like to make that niche broader. Our future projects will not necessarily be horror games. They could be called thrillers. We’re much broader with The Medium and the stuff we’re trying to do in the future.”
He compared Bloober’s aspirations to games such as Resident Evil Village, Hellblade 2, and The Last of Us, saying, “This is the area in which we would like to be. And still we’d like to keep our DNA, showing some fears and emotions, those things which are hidden to our eyes.”
The Medium launched late last month for PC and Xbox Series X | S, with clear inspiration from previous Silent Hill games. Konami has not announced an official return for Silent Hill, but it’s safe to say that many fans would like to see Bloober behind a new entry in the series.
