Silent Hill Creator Teases New Horror Game
When it comes to the now-saturated market of horror survival games, few titles carry as much credence as Silent Hill. Heading back to 1999, Konami first opened the doors to that teorror-riddled town and spawned a franchise that would go on to give us those nightmare nurses, Pyramid Head, and Robbie the Rabbit. While many credit Hideo Kojima as the man behind the madness, Keiichiro Toyama actually has the honour of creating Silent Hill.
Despite only sticking with Team Silent for the first game, Toyama has had success elsewhere with another horror survival series thanks to Siren. He also worked on Gravity Rush and finally left Sony Japan Studio in 2020 to found Bokeh Game Studio alongside Kazunobu Sato and Junya Okura.
While Toyama sadly can't give us an update about what's going on with the seemingly dormant Silent Hill franchise, he can give us a look at concept art from his next game. Sticking to his horror roots, it's another nightmarish vision that's been pulled from his decidedly dark psyche. As Silent Hill seems stuck in its own limbo, it's interesting to note Toyama's new game has some decidedly Silent vibes.
What is the Silent Hill creator's new horror game?
Discussing what's next in a Bokeh Game Studio interview, an excited Toyama shared off hellish concept art for his next venture. The interview is in Japanese, but the concept art has been shared on Twitter by @Nibellion. Explaining what Bokeh is working on, Toyama said, "The view I have of horror is the everyday life being shaken. Rather than showing scary things, it should question our position, make us challenge the fact that we're living peacefully... I would like that to be the theme of my next game".
There's plenty of imagination coming from Toyama, as the concept art shows off bizarre insect-like monsters, faces splitting apart like Ghost in the Shell, and what looks like body parts (in a recycling bin?). All in all, we're suitably spooked and interested at the same time. He's playing coy on the details and hasn't revealed the title of his next horror project...yet!
While the idea of pure horror games is what inspired Toyama, he wants to tap into the "death game" sub-genre. Continuing with what his next game will be like, Toyama added, "These works tend to add entertainment to somewhat brutal worlds. You have these regular people driven into irrational situations. They're on the edge emotionally, while dealing with action or drama. This influenced me and I think it will show in my next game".
Will there be a new Silent Hill game?
Ultimately, we're still in the dark with what's actually going on with Silent Hill. Following Hideo Kojima's departure from Konami, and establishment of Kojima Productions, Silent Hill has been trapped in its own nightmare. There was the much-hyped P.T. (playable teaser) for Silent Hills, however, the game was scrapped in 2015 and Kojima moved onto Death Stranding. It's unclear who has the keys to the Silent Hill kingdom right now, but there were recent leaks that TWO news games could bring the franchise kicking and screaming onto next-gen consoles.
Sadly, Silent Hill continues to slip into the depths of development hell as the fires beneath it smoulder like the titular town itself. At least we know Toyama is working on something big. Given the cult status of the original Silent Hill - and Toyama's other games - he's definitely the right man for the job. Horror games are all the rage these days, and as Capcom continues to lead the way with the long-running Resident Evil name, Bokeh Game Studio could be the plucky young upstart to give the developer a run for its money.
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Images via Bokeh Game Studio | Konami