Silent Hill collection producer Motoi Okamoto says Konami introduced three video games on the similar time to show it was critical in regards to the IP’s future.
In October 2022, Konami broadcast a ‘Silent Hill Transmission’ reside stream, the place it introduced three new video games – a remake of Silent Hill 2, a Japan-themed entry referred to as Silent Hill F, and a story title referred to as Silent Hill Townfall from Scottish studio NoCode (now referred to as Display screen Burn).
It additionally introduced “interactive streaming collection” Silent Hill: Ascension, which ran for 21 episodes and was critically panned, regardless of successful an Emmy award for Excellent Innovation in Rising Media Programming.
Since that Silent Hill Transmission, each the Silent Hill 2 remake and Silent Hill F have been launched to essential acclaim and a optimistic response from followers of the collection.
In a brand new put up on X, Okamoto defined that the choice to announce all three video games throughout the identical broadcast was a deliberate try and guarantee these followers that Silent Hill had a future, and wasn’t simply going to be a one-off launch to appease them.
“Three years in the past, in 2022, we introduced three titles – Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill f, and Silent Hill: Townfall,” Okamoto mentioned (as translated by Automaton). “We didn’t wish to simply announce a single remake to ‘take a look at the waters’. We needed individuals to really feel how critical we had been about reviving the collection.
“Growing a remake and a brand new title concurrently naturally includes dangers, however we needed to convey our dedication initially. Solely when a brand new sport is introduced can the way forward for a collection be seen.
“Customers received’t really feel motivated to have interaction with an IP until they will sense it has a future. If the corporate takes a wait-and-see strategy, so will the gamers. The corporate wants to indicate how critical it’s so that customers can get genuinely excited. I feel that’s solely truthful.”
Okamoto additionally referred to an earlier put up he made, through which he said that the Silent Hill 2 remake needed to be made with each present followers and newcomers in thoughts, slightly than merely interesting to those that had performed the unique model, as a result of not each fan returns for a remake.
“It’s most likely a bit completely different for anime and video games, however with remakes, even in case you take into account previous followers, at greatest, about half of them will come again, so it tends to result in shrinking,” he wrote. “In case you don’t design [the remake] with about half new audiences and half previous followers in thoughts, the client base received’t develop.”
VGC’s Silent Hill 2 overview mentioned the remake “proves the doubters flawed”, calling it “a skilfully dealt with retelling of one of many medium’s most cherished survival horror video games”.
“It stays devoted to the unique (to a fault at occasions) however breathes sufficient new life into it to concurrently be certain that long-time followers will recognize the respect proven, whereas newcomers received’t discover it antiquated,” we wrote.
Our Silent Hill F overview was equally optimistic, stating that the sport is “actually a diversion from the principle collection in plenty of (largely welcome) methods, however it’s nonetheless very a lot a Silent Hill sport at coronary heart”.
“By focusing extra on motion – particularly after a shocking twist midway by – it dangers alienating some survival horror followers by making fight the precedence slightly than the final resort, whereas a few of its puzzles are too obtuse for their very own good, however it’s nonetheless an astoundingly lovely sport that horror followers actually ought to expertise no matter its flaws,” we concluded.
