[Update 2/28/2015: Konami has confirmed that the game has been canceled: “Konami is committed to new Silent Hill titles, however the embryonic Silent Hills project developed with Guillermo del Toro and featuring the likeness of Norman Reedus will not be continued.”
In what is sure to be catastrophic news for fans of survival horror, the Silent Hill series, Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, the eagerly anticipated Silent Hills is no more.
The news was broken by journalist Matt Hackney, who tweeted that del Toro said at a San Francisco Film Society event last night that “It’s not gonna happen and that breaks my greasy heart.”
As if that wasn’t enough to seal the deal, Walking Dead star Norman Reedus, who was set to portray the game’s main character, also confirmed the news on Twitter, writing: “Super bummed about this was really looking forward to it. Hopefully it’ll come back around. Sorry everyone.”
The implosion of the eagerly anticipated Silent Hill game appears to be the result of Hideo Kojima’s falling out with publisher Konami. Both of them confirmed this last month when they announced that after the completion of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the legendary game developer and publisher would be parting ways.
Announced last year, Silent Hills was anticipated to be a masterful collaboration between two iconic figures in the videgaming and film. A demo of the game, titled P.T., or Playable Teaser, was released on the PlayStation Store shortly after and is generally regarded as one of the most terrifying gaming experiences ever made.
Following this devastating news however, not only will fans likely never see Silent Hills come to fruition, but P.T. will be removed from the PlayStation Store on April 29, as announced by Konami.
A source speaking to IGN added, however, that del Toro’s comment about Silent Hills was specifically in regards to his collaboration with Kojima. Neither Kojima nor Konami have made any official statements on the matter.
If Konami officially confirms that Silent Hills is indeed canceled, you can be sure that fans won’t take the news lying down. Expect a petition or a fundraising initiative of some kind to resurrect the project.