A Silent Hill PS5 game is reportedly on its way from Hideo Kojima, with the Konami horror series allegedly set to make its way to the Sony console. However, given Kojima’s history with Konami, a collaboration seems unlikely at best — so where do these new rumors come from, and what is the likelihood of them being true?
Silent Hill PS5 rumors explained
The Silent Hill PS5 reports stem from comments made on the Broken Silicon podcast by YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead.
This YouTuber previously accurately stated that a God of War sequel would be announced by Sony, and that the game had already been shown “behind closed doors.” Fans were eventually shown a teaser trailer for God of War Ragnarok, which also confirmed Moore’s Law’s report that it would launch in 2021.
In a new episode of the podcast, Moore’s Law said that Silent Hills “sounds almost entirely confirmed,” but the YouTuber also stated that he had not “talked to someone working on the game.” However, he noted that he had heard from an unnamed source that Sony and Konami were able to “work out some deal” where Hideo Kojima and his Kojima Productions studio would be able to work on the game.
The podcast can be listened to below, with the comments being made after 1:47:20:
When the Silent Hill PS5 reveal could take place
The Silent Hill PS5 reveal will reportedly take place at The Game Awards 2020. This is set for December 11, 2020.
The Game Awards typically features a slew of new game announcements and trailers, though a Silent Hill reveal would surely rank among the top new reveals during the show, if it were to happen.
Moore’s Law backpedaled somewhat on The Game Awards comments, saying that it was “something [Kojima Productions] was working on,” regardless of whether or not it would be officially revealed at TGA 2020.
Moore’s Law also claimed there has been a God of War Ragnarok demo available for a while, though the Santa Monica team saw the controversial Halo Infinite reveal and concluded that they didn’t need to show the game early. According to the YouTuber, Ragnarok will be properly revealed at The Game Awards 2020, too.
Is Kojima really working on Silent Hills PS5 with Konami?
Hideo Kojima and Konami’s past is a troubled one, therefore adding question marks around the possibility that the developer and publisher would ever work together again.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain‘s development was notoriously mired in controversy, with both the developer and the publisher butting heads. Konami wiped Kojima’s name from promotional material for MGSV, renamed its Kojima Productions Los Angeles studio to Konami Los Angeles Studio, and also failed to mention Kojima in an announcement of a 2015 restructuring.
The controversy spread to The Game Awards, too. During the show, Geoff Keighley delivered a speech explaining why Kojima had been “banned” from the 2015 edition of the awards show:
Konami feud results in P.T.’s removal
While Kojima and Konami finished and released MGSV, he was still working on Silent Hills during his breakup with the publisher. The game’s playable teaser, P.T., had been released on the PS4 PlayStation Store in 2014, with it looking likely that Kojima would be the next director to helm the horror franchise.
However, during the ongoing feud between Kojima and Konami, Konami removed P.T. from the PlayStation Store, the Silent Hills project was unceremoniously scrapped, and Kojima went on to form his own Kojima Productions. The studio teamed with Sony to publish Death Stranding, Kojima’s next new IP.
PlayStation buying Silent Hill and MGS?
There have been rumors that Konami was looking to release a new Silent Hill game for PS5, overlooking Kojima’s attempt to revitalize the series. As Konami owns the license, this is still a possibility, though these rumors suggest that a deal has been ironed out between Sony, Konami, and Kojima Productions.
Rumors from noted leaker JackofallControllers in March 2020 suggested that PlayStation was looking to acquire both the Silent Hill and Metal Gear licenses from Konami. While the idea of such a deal makes sense given PlayStation’s history with both franchises, the series rank among Konami’s most high-profile IPs, making it seem unlikely that the publisher would let go of both of them.
However, given that Konami has done little with both series post-Kojima — Silent Hill hasn’t had a new release since 2012’s Book of Memories and 2018’s Metal Gear Survive underperformed critically and commercially — it could be that the publisher wants to cut its losses.
Kojima Productions is working on a new game
Hideo Kojima has already confirmed that he’s working on a new game. In October, Kojima Productions revealed that a “new project is in development,” and the company was hiring for its Tokyo studio:
#KojimaProductions confirms a new project is in development and is looking to hire the best-in-class talent to work out of our Tokyo studio. For more information on the openings and requirements, please visit our website at https://t.co/jeTGnnwLAW pic.twitter.com/StLOrxTlhg
— KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS (Eng) (@KojiPro2015_EN) October 22, 2020
This indicates that the project is very early in its development, which would make the rumored The Game Awards 2020 reveal seem unlikely. However, it could be that the studio plans only to tease the project at the show, and that PlayStation will announce the Silent Hill license has been acquired. If this is the case, then the Silent Hill PS5 reveal could still happen at TGA 2020.
