Konami has renewed the Silent Hill brand and mentions virtual reality headsets. A clue that points to a title in subjective view by Bloober Team (Layers of Fear)?
While Konami’s mobile, pachinko, and gym-related businesses are enough for the company to stay afloat, it occasionally releases console and PC games. We have the very recent example of the TMNT compilation: The Cowabunga Collection which is scheduled for 2022. But the Japanese publisher has plans to relaunch its biggest franchise, Silent Hill in mind.
An abandoned domain name, a renewed brand
Silent Hill, we no longer count the number of times this name has been pronounced in recent years. In vain. And yet, for the past few days, there has been a little movement. In February first, we discovered that Konami had not renewed the domain name of the official site. And no luck, a little joker bought it to play a trick on everyone. He indeed had fun posting a tweet from Masahiro Ito, designer of the series’ creatures, who declared “I regret creating that p****n Pyramid Head”.
Besides this joke, a Reddit user made another more serious finding. On March 15, 2022, Konami updated the Silent Hill brand with relatively interesting detail. Apart from the classic mentions, the sheet mentions compatibility with virtual reality headsets. Weird, did you say weird?
Silent Hill VR by Bloober Team?
So is a Silent Hill project in VR possible? Yes. By who? Bloober Team, the Polish studio of Layers of Fear, Observer System Redux, or The Medium, is the ideal candidate. And there are several clues that would validate this theory.
The developers are on several projects, including a Layers of Fear under Unreal Engine 5, and a game with Konami. Coincidence? Not really because a few weeks ago, our colleagues from VGC announced that the studio was at work on a new episode of Silent Hill. As for the possibility of playing in VR, Bloober Team already has experience in the field since the teams have brought out Layers of Fear and Blair Witch in virtual reality. Thus, the studio could apply the same formula by offering a hybrid Silent Hill (on a classic screen and via a VR headset) in subjective view, instead of the third person.
Logically, the rumor has it that Konami is speaking during a big event. Basically at E3 2022, Gamescom 2022, or Tokyo Game Show 2022.
Does a Silent Hill in VR or hybrid by Bloober Teamwork for you? Do you believe the franchise can and should return, or is it time to move on? Tell us everything in the comments.
