A ton of exciting games were revealed today, but there was one notable absence. For months “leakers” and “industry insiders” have claimed a new Silent Hill game (or two) is in the works. We’ve heard rumors of Sony purchasing the license and putting Kojima at the helm of a new game, one stating Konami developing multiple Silent Hill games, and one that says the team behind Siren and Gravity Rush are working on Silent Hill title. There was allegedly supposed to be a Silent Hill at the PS5 reveal, despite Konami blatantly stating there was no game in development, but we saw nothing.
Enthusiasm for Kojima’s canceled Silent Hills and love for the P.T. demo that served as a teaser for that project has made the franchise ripe for rumors. The latest game in the series, Silent Hill: Downpour, released in 2012, and Konami has distanced itself from AAA game development. As such, fans are desperate for any morsel of hope. Since Silent Hills was canceled and P.T. was pulled from PSN, a steady stream of charlatans who claim to be in the know have drawn people in with “leaks” of a new game in the franchise.
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As of writing, the only solid fact we know about the Silent Hill franchise is that it’s been licensed to Behaviour Interactive for use in Dead By Daylight. Heather Mason and Pyramid Head will join the game, and a new map set in Midwich Elementary School will be available. Other than that, there’s simply no news about the franchise.
It’s entirely possible that one or more leakers might be right. There may very well be a Silent Hill game in development, and the franchise’s appearance in Dead By Daylight shows that Konami is at the very least amiable to new works being made using the IP. However, there’s nothing substantial to confirm that any new game is in development.
Though there are leakers who genuinely have connections to the video game industry and who share the information they get through those connections, there are plenty that are flimflam men. There are many out there that just use a digital form of cold reading to make claims and either say things like, “oh, things must have changed,” when they get predictions wrong. They then preserve the guesses they got right on social media and delete those they got wrong. That way, they can point back to their “exemplary record” of leaks, and their growing audience is none the wiser.
I’m not going to point fingers at any one individual, but with any leak about Silent Hill or with any game in general, remain skeptical. These people hold an audience based on their reputation as leakers, and there’s no database of their claims or anybody that requires them to be honest about the veracity of their leaks.
So, I encourage everyone to question any leak they see. Unfortunately, leaking is so prevalent these days; we have no other choice but to report on the ones we see as reputable. Major games are basically announced via leaks, and as much as I hate reporting on them, it’d be a disservice to our audience not to give them a write-up.
As it stands, Silent Hill could appear tomorrow or never. No data is pointing in either direction. The only way you’re going to get to play any new Silent Hill material for the immediate future is through Dead By Daylight. It’s unfortunate we didn’t see it at the PS5 reveal, I’m a massive fan of the franchise myself, but maybe someday a new entry in the series will come to light.
