Silent Hill producer hopes more indie game developers join the franchise

A Silent Hill producer expressed his desire of seeing more independent gaming studios possibly creating more titles for the franchise.

Speaking with IGN Japan, series producer Motoi Okamoto talked about the involvement of indie studios on some of the Silent Hill projects, particularly game developers like Bloober Team, Anapurna Interactive, and No Code.

“There’s only so much we can do ourselves, which means we need to work with lots of different indie creators if we want to make lots of different Silent Hills,” Okamoto said. “That’s why we made moves to work together with people around the world who want to make Silent Hill games and approached Bloober Team, as well as Anapurna Interactive and No Code.”

Okamoto then mentioned that he hopes other game developers from the world would pitch revolving around the franchise, stating that he and the team will be “all ears.”

“The fact we were reviving Silent Hill was a secret until now, so we couldn’t exactly go out and yell, ‘Hey, everyone! Bring us your Silent Hill projects!’ We can do that now, so if creators from around the world who love Silent Hill bring us their pitches, I promise to look through every one of them. We’re all ears,” he said.

As for the ongoing development of the Silent Hill 2 remake which will be released for PS5 and PC, Okamoto praised Bloober Team’s performance on the creation of the game, especially in the backgrounds and environments aspect.

“To begin with, Bloober Team is amazingly talented at creating environments. You can really experience what James is feeling just by walking through the foggy town,” Okamoto added. “I think they’re excellent at making backgrounds, environments and atmosphere. On top of that, they’re putting a lot of attention into combat in order to make the gameplay that much deeper. I see them as very hard workers who are full of love for Silent Hill.”

This follows the interview with Maciej Blomb, a producer from Bloober Team, where he pointed out how the original game’s composer, Akira Yamaoka, and art director and creature designer, Masahiro Ito, are taking part in the remake’s development.

“We fell out of our chairs knowing we have the original creators on board,” Głomb said. “They gave us a much-needed explanation of the many innuendos in the game that circulated on the internet for well over 20 years, and we’ll continue asking the OGs for their opinions on our shared gem. Besides, they’ve taken an active part in the development themselves—Ito-san provided us with concept art for locations and monsters while Yamaoka-san composed the music for the game.”