Studios Slaughtered by Silent Hill
Konami's ambitious plan to revive the Silent Hill brand with three high-profile launches in one month ended in complete disaster and cost the industry two of the three studios involved in the projects.
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Abandoned, misty and overwhelming with emptiness. Dipped in lethargy that it may never wake up again. Silent Hill is indeed silent. It has remained so for years, although many fans of virtual horror movies would dream of returning to one of the darkest and most evocative places we have visited in gaming in the last three decades. The roads leading there, however, seem closed.
People interested in the Silent Hill are left with one of the eight games released so far in the main line. A leap back to the original quadrilogy from the PlayStation 1 & 2 era, or some of the games released from 2007–2012, which, out of respect for their earlier works, did not dare to add numbers to the title, and were variously received by fans. Today, however, we do not want to talk about the fate of this franchise, its unique atmosphere or memorable characters. Let me introduce you to a story that is slightly different, but no less tragic. It will be a story of three studios: Hijinx Studios, Vatra Games and WayForward Technologies, who ventured into Silent Hill ten years ago, believing that this trip would bring them glory and wealth. Only one of them came out of it alive. The other two vanished into mist.
In my restless dreams I see that town... Silent Hill
The beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. The gaming industry was beginning to grasp the potential of all collections, remasters and broadly understood returns of more or less iconic productions from years before. Players wanted a faster, easier and more comfortable way to get to the classics, so they accepted releases such as Prince of Persia Trilogy , The Sly Collection, Metroid Prime: Trilogy or God of War Collection with open arms. At Konami's Tokyo headquarters, the vision of capitalizing two, powerful brands, Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill, was taking shape. Both were to return in collections published in 2011. In both cases, the plan was similar, but the paths leading to implementation turned out to be very different.
Konami was intensively implementing its idea of entrusting projects to Western studios. Snake arrives safely in the hands of Bluepoint Games studio, which had previously refreshed Kratos' adventures with due reverence. He also had a protective umbrella held by the father of the IP, Hideo Kojima, and his team. The town of Silent Hill, in comparison, resembles an orphan whose producers tries to find a guardian at all costs, preferably without too much involvement. And so the idea of creating an HD version of the second and third installments of the series went to Konami's longtime collaborator, the American Hijinx Studios, who had developed three parts of Karaoke Revolution licensed from the Glee series and digitally-distributed installment of the tactical RPG Vandal Hearts subtitled Flames of Judgment.
The Japanese didn't stop there. They had an ambitious plan to promote and exploit the Silent Hill IP as much as possible. In the minds of directors and marketers, the vision of "the month of madness" is born. October 2011 was supposed to arrive under the banner of Silent Hill and offer the fans of the brand – and also potential new customers – no less than three projects. And in the background, loomed the vision of Silent Hill Revelations 3D movie, in which terrifying monstrosities from this universe would scare viewers in a picture of unprecedented quality.
What exactly was the publisher preparing for the players? The new installment of the series, Silent Hill: Downpour, developed by Czech Vatra Games, and a collection of remastered Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 to be released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 within a few days. In addition, PlayStation Vita owners would receive a spin-off, Book of Memories, in which WayForward Technologies takes the brand to areas previously unknown to fans of the genre.
On paper, the plan looked great. The whole idea of sending three different studios into the Silent Hill seemed a huge chance to enter a higher league and mark their position on the market. Hopes were huge, plans were ambitious. The reality, however, turned out to be quite different than what the creators had assumed. Like in Silent Hill, the frightening truth begins to unfold...
