Silent Hill’s return shows Konami is taking games seriously again

Prior to yesterday’s Silent Hill Transmission showcase, it was widely accepted that Konami, as a video game publisher, had fallen from grace to a state of near-total irrelevance. It feels like we’ve been making jokes for years about the primacy of this onetime jukebox rental business’ many sidelines, which include casinos and health clubs. Konami hasn’t helped itself with seemingly desperate lunges at the latest tech trends, such as NFTs and metaverse development. Its last major game launch — 2021’s eFootball, a rebranding of its ailing Pro Evolution Soccer series — was an unmitigated disaster.

Most of Konami’s woes date back to 2015, a year that will live in infamy for fans of the 1980s and ’90s greats that made the company’s name: Gradius, Castlevania, Contra, Suikoden, and, of course, Metal Gear. Konami cancelled its operations in 2015 Silent HillsPermanently pulled:, Hideo Kujima’s reboot of their prized horror series and Guillermo del Toro’s film director; Silent Hills’ acclaimed playable teaser P.T. from the PlayStation Store, making it almost completely inaccessible if you didn’t already have it installed; and conducted a protracted and undignified break-up with its star creator Kojima that included removing his name from promotional materials for Metal Gear Solid 5, The Phantom PainHe forbade him to accept an award at The Game Awards.

Hideki Hayakawa, the new boss of games, was proposing a shift from console gaming toward mobile development. The company was also restructuring to take power from Kojima Productions and the Japanese media was cementing its position as an employer.

It’s certainly possible that Kojima had previously been over-indulged at Konami. But the damage done to the publisher’s reputation with players — not to mention to its ability and indeed willingness to make games — was severe. Aside from the general apathy toward 2018’s misguided Metal Gears SurviveThe 2019 Contra game, which is a little-known gem Contra: Rogue CorpsSilent Hill has fallen to ruin for over a decade. These were the last released games. Silent Hill: DownpourAnd Book of Memories In 2012.

This context made this week’s Silent Hill Transmission a make-or-break moment for both the Silent Hill brand, and Konami’s games division. Perhaps Surprisingly Konami rose to this occasion.

Several things stood out about the series of announcements: their quantity, the breadth of ground they covered, and — most pleasantly surprising of all — the spirit of invention behind them.

Konami certainly had some cover by grouping these five projects together. None of them would have been examined as carefully as if they were unveiled individually, and some could be very (read: extremely!) light on details. It also allowed the publisher to demonstrate that they are aware of both the creative and economic opportunities associated with modern franchise management. It seems that it does. Konami! All companies

A remake of fan favorite Silent Hill 2,This allows Konami’s fans to recall the best of the series and to introduce new players. It also carries little creative risk. However, this can be paired with Silent Hill fIt looks to expand the universe of Horror with a new time period (the 1960s), different cultures (Japan) and a more organic, psychological and less brutal horror.

Enjoy the film Silent Hill.,Konami shows a firm understanding of the fact that entertainment franchises should not be limited to one media, and a keen appreciation for what worked the first time. Silent Hill film). Interactive drama series is the latest example of this dubious thinking. Silent Hill: Ascension.

However, the most intriguing move is Silent Hill: Townfall, a new game made in partnership with boutique “indie” publisher Annapurna Interactive, and developed by No Code (Stories Untold, Observation). Konami recognizes that small indie developers are bringing a lot of innovation to the horror industry in recent years. Silent Hill You can move between genres, markets and even into new forms within the gaming world.

No Code’s involvement also points to another surprising and welcome development: a discerning yet bold eye for talent. Bloober Team was first to be reported.There are layers of fear, Medium) was partnering with Konami and most likely working on Silent Hill, it was easy to fear a return to where the series had left off in 2012 — working with decidedly mid-range, journeyman Western studios like Climax, Vatra, and Double Helix. While the creative risks are in, Bloober turns out to be remake custodians under Masahiro Ito’s watchful eye. You can find it here. The fascinating collaboration of two talents: Ryukishi07 the visual novelist, and artist keraThis was supported by NeoBards, a somewhat untested Taiwanese producer, and Motoi Okamoto (an experienced producer). Consider that known, safe quantities such as Jusqu’à la Dämmerung developer Supermassive are known to have been involved in the Silent Hill pitch process, it’s great to see Konami take a risk on such creators and pursue an unconventional development set-up to realize their vision.

Many of these ideas may never be realized. However, this week witnessed the return of Konami to being a creative and savvy force in videogames. There had been green shoots earlier this year — GetsuFumaDen, Undying MoonA well received update on a Konami classic game and how the future is being planned. Suikoden 1And 2 remasters — but the Silent Hill Transmission all but makes it official: Konami, as an entity that seems to care about making cool video games, is back. It’s even no longer unthinkable that it might find something interesting to do with Metal Gear, post-Kojima. Now that’s a turnaround.