Bloober Team announces joint partnership with Konami, sparking new life in Silent Hill rumors

Bloober Team, the makers of some fairly popular horror games, has announced a joint partnership with a publisher once known for its own penchant toward terror: Konami. The two companies will work together to develop a new game, Bloober wrote on its site. Naturally, thoughts on the partnership will gravitate toward a particular Konami franchise. Rumors of a Bloober Team-developed Silent Hill have been swirling for some time.

It’s not an unnatural fit for the Polish developer. Bloober’s most recent game, The Medium, wore its Silent Hill influence on its sleeves. The third-person horror game followed a spirit medium, who moved through the real and spirit world on the hunt to solve a grisly mystery. Bloober also brought in Silent Hill composer, Akira Yamaoka, for the game’s soundtrack.

The Silent Hill rumors have been floating around since February. Bloober CEO Piotr Babieno revealed to GameIndustry that the company was working on a “horror IP” alongside a “famous gaming publisher.” Babieno further teased that once the project was revealed, players would be “very excited.” Since the interview, it’s been wondered if Bloober Team had been brought in for a Silent Hill reboot. The fate of the franchise had been in limbo since the cancellation of Silent Hills in 2015.  Norman Reedus was set to star in the game, with Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro directing.

Silent Hills never got to see the light of day.

Silent no longer

Of course, much of this is just hopeful optimism. There’s no confirmation just yet that Bloober Team is working on a new Silent Hill game, reboot, or even a resurrected Silent Hills. However, Babieno made it clear that the new game is coming from a known franchise. And with Konami coming along to help on development, it’s easy to connect the dots.

“We have been providing unique entertainment content and ways to enjoy it through the use of information technology,” said Hideki Hayakawa, representative director, president of Konami Digital Entertainment, in the announcement. “In the digital entertainment industry, significant changes in the business environment are expected in the future. We look forward to combining Bloober Team’s and our respective characteristics and strengths to create high-quality contents.”