The success of Control and Death Stranding means that a new Silent Hill game “makes sense” according to Sam Barlow, the director of Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. That’s exactly why he’s pitching a continuation of the series to game publishers while continuing his work on the mysterious Project A.
There has not been a new Silent Hill game since 2012, a year that saw the release of Silent Hill: Downpour, Silent Hill: Book of Memories, and the Silent Hill HD Collection. Since then, Hideo Kojima contributed to the popular Silent Hill P.T. demo, but a full game had not manifested from that project. Now, a director of two of Silent Hill games believes that the recent successes of Remedy Entertainment and Kojima Productions are a good sign that games like this can be made again — and that’s why he’s pitching it to a publisher.
Can Sam Barlow make a new Silent Hill game happen?
TFW an interviewer asks what you'd do to make a Shattered Memories follow-up today but you can't tell them because you're currently pitching that thing pic.twitter.com/ztnbcjjBck
— Sam Barlow (@mrsambarlow) October 7, 2020
Sam Barlow is an experienced game designer and director with a number of notable credits to his name. Aside from two Silent Hill games, he has also served as the director and writer for Her Story, its spiritual successor Telling Lies, and his new upcoming title Project A. Currently, he’s working on leveraging that experience towards reviving the Silent Hill franchise.
Fans of the Silent Hill franchise have been repeatedly disappointed by rumors that ultimately fell flat. Former Silent Hill artist Masahiro Ito said he was working on a new game as a “core member” and further rumors suggested that two Silent Hill games were in the works, but Konami ultimately confirmed that no new Silent Hill game is in production. However, this year’s addition of Silent Hill characters to Dead by Daylight and the release of a Silent Hill game on DRM-free retailer GOG has sparked a new sense of hope.
Barlow followed up the initial tweet with several clarifications. His desire to pitch a new Silent Hill game is largely due to two factors: fan demand and the success of Control and Death Stranding, a class of games that he refers to as “Triple-I.”
*Especially in South & Central America. Konami always told us that this was a big market for horror games and they were not wrong! I need to learn Brazilian Portuguese & Latin American Spanish
— Sam Barlow (@mrsambarlow) October 8, 2020
Can Sam Barlow make a new Silent Hill game happen? He has the talent and resources to get it done, but that hinges on Konami allowing him to use the Silent Hill name and universe. If that doesn’t work out, there’s always the option of making a spiritual successor.
