Fans were worried about the state of Silent Hill 2’s anticipated remake due to Konami’s lack of communication on the project. Now it seems the game’s own development studio, Bloober Team, is sick of Konami’s silence and has resorted to social media callouts.
The beloved psychological horror franchise has had a foggy past, with major restructures at Konami causing the cancellation of Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills, which also had its infamous playable teaser taken off the PlayStation Store. But on Oct 19, 2022, fans were treated to Silent Hill Transmission, a showcase that revealed a number of new projects following in the footsteps of the franchise.
Arguably, the most exciting announcement of the transmission was the Silent Hill 2 remake, a modernized overhaul of the fan-favorite entry in the same vein as Resident Evil’s acclaimed remakes. A high-fidelity trailer showing multiple iconic cutscenes accompanied the announcement, which was widely praised for keeping the spirit of the original title alive.
Konami has been tight-lipped on the game’s development for over a year and fans were worried that another Silent Hill project had been killed off by the studio. Bloober Team, however, has recently been updating followers of the franchise with reassuring replies on social media, confirming the Silent Hill 2 remake is still being worked on.
But one reply on Nov. 21 has been gaining traction as Bloober Team criticized its own publisher, Konami, about a lack of transparency surrounding the game’s development status, saying “Konami is the publisher of the game and communication is definitely part of their job.” The surprising response has been met with mixed opinions, with some loving the honesty on display and others feeling the response “lacks professionalism”.
Admittedly, online drama, while entertaining, doesn’t often bode well for projects in development as negative attention cast onto projects can quickly lead to cancellation when companies are worried about the effects of a boycott. On Nov. 26, Bloober Team made an official statement, outright confirming the studio is “diligently working to ensure the Silent Hill 2 remake attains the highest quality.”
The formal response addressed its stance on Konami in a subtle way, spinning its confrontational attitude towards the situation into a message that sounds hopeful. Blooper’s official statement reads: “Once Konami, as the game’s publisher, shares more information, we are confident that the wait will be worthwhile.”
