RoliTheOne
A recent trademark update has rekindled hopes for the long-awaited return of the Silent Hill franchise. Konami, the developer, and publisher behind the iconic survival horror series has recently updated several trademarks. Among these, an entry for Silent Hill stands out, as spotted by Reddit user LongJonSiIver.
The observation stems from Chizai-Watch, where five entries of updated trademarks appeared. The second of which reads Silent Hill.
Konami has been vocal about still wanting to continue making games in the Silent Hill universe, despite canceling Silent Hills and Hideo Kojima’s departure. The most interesting part about all this is that the description of the trademark also mentions the words “virtual reality headset,” prompting rumors of a possible VR title in the works.
With the success of horror titles like Outlast and Resident Evil 7 supporting PlayStation VR, this approach doesn’t seem all that unlikely from a company that (we assume) has been trying to resurrect this long-dormant series. Considering another iconic series, Half-Life had similar issues and ultimately returned with Half-Life: Alyx, a VR Silent Hill title seems like a viable move.
Even though releasing AAA games for VR has so far been a relatively risky endeavor due to a smaller potential customer base, developing a new SH game seems like the next logical step, given the already baked-in nature of the series’ oppressive atmosphere and psychological chills.
We’re definitely curious to see if there’s more to this than just being another empty trademark renewal and will keep you posted on any new developments.
