Amidst swirling rumours that the Silent Hill franchise is staging a comeback, Konami and Bloober Team have officially announced a partnership that will have them “jointly developing selected contents and exchanging know-how”.
First announced on Bloober’s investor relations website, the collaboration news did not reveal much information on future plans, but Konami’s Hideki Hayakama stated that the team-up will combine “Bloober Team’s and our respective characteristics and strengths to create high-quality contents”.
The facts seem to fall in line with speculation that a new Silent Hill game is in the pipeline – on the surface, at least. For one, Bloober’s expertise lies in horror games, having worked on the likes of The Medium, Observer, and Blair Witch. The company has also previously mentioned that it’s currently developing a horror IP with a “very famous publisher”, with Konami believed to be outsourcing Silent Hill development to third-party companies.
Considering the less-than-stellar track record of Bloober, however, there’s a chance that a Silent Hill redemption might not be on the cards. The journey hasn’t been the smoothest for the horror series as well – besides the cancellation of Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hill project that made collaborator Guillermo del Toro swear to never touch another video game again, a more recent wave of disappointment hit fans as expectations of Blue Box Studio’s Abandoned went off the rails with no sign of Kojima in sight.
It’s difficult to say how the partnership will pan out in the future, especially with scant details on this front. Konami enthusiasts don’t have to worry, though, as the company promises that it’ll continue developing games with both outside parties and internally.
“Our alliance with Bloober Team is one area where we are continuing to evolve our approach to game development. We will continue to explore partnerships with a variety of development companies as well as continue in-house development of key projects among our own teams, as we have done for many years,” it shared.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Natalie
