sisslethecat
Update: April Fool’s! I uh… wasn’t expecting this many people to get duped by this, I don’t know if it speaks to the brilliance of my (in my opinion very obvious) prank, or the degree to which Koanmi’s public image has plummeted, but damn. Rest assured, your copies of the original Silent Hill titles are safe. Hope you have a great 2022!
Early this morning, Konami Entertainment announced that they would be discontinuing the original Silent Hill titles. This includes Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, Silent Hill 4: The Room, Silent Hill Origins, Silent Hill Homecoming, Silent Hill Shattered Memories, Silent Hill Downpour, Silent Hill HD Collection, Silent Hill The Play Novel, and Silent Hill Book of Memories, which is both quite shocking as well as feeling like a massive overstep of boundaries. These titles, where available, will be removed starting June 12th. The initial wave of removals will of course be digital storefronts, such as the titles available on PlayStation 3, PSP, Vita, and Xbox systems, with the next wave being physical copies recalled from storefronts, including used copies. Said Konami vice president in a press statement this morning,
“We believe the way forward for both our company and the Silent Hill brand as a whole is to ensure that nobody is allowed to look backward. Future entries, such as the one being developed by Bloober Team, might end up looking bad in comparison to the classics fans grew up with. As such, we are taking this drastic measure in order to clear up any confusion as to what Silent Hill, as an IP, means to us and what we want it to mean to our fans all over the world.”
The third and final wave will see Konami issuing what they have dubbed KoRecall, a division that has been assigned specifically to the task of entering the homes of each gamer that still owns an original copy of any or all of the aforementioned games directly from their collections. Computers housing ISOs or the PC versions of each game will also be destroyed on sight. Fans are welcome to attend the “KoFire” event later in the month, whereupon Konami has revealed plans to burn all physical copies of the series, as well as offer fans a chance to buy a limited-edition Pyramid Head themed skateboard.
While this may come as a shock to some fans, it follows suit with a series of other decisions such as the removal of the much-beloved Silent Hills: Playable Teaser (P.T.) from the PlayStation 4. Konami also indicated that they are considering following this action up with a similar removal of Metal Gear Solid titles. It’s a sad day for Silent Hill fans, but ultimately, what else is new. We recommend our readers take the time to play and enjoy these original masterpieces to their fullest before their removal on June 12th.
Update: Capcom has since expressed interest in doing the same for the original PlayStation versions of Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3: Nemesis, however, they will instead be replacing them with copies of the remakes, along with a special thank you note (and promises of a second thank you for members of the Resident Evil Ambassador Program to follow shortly after).
