Silent Hills Cancelled, Konami Confirms

Following a second day of disquieting rumors concerning the Silent Hills project, on Monday, publisher Konami confirmed that it has terminated plans to develop the game.

Although Konami initially declined to comment on the matter when contacted early on Monday, later in the day it issued a statement to GameSpot, putting speculation surrounding the title to rest.

"Konami is committed to new Silent Hill titles, however the embryonic Silent Hills project developed with Guillermo del Toro and featuring the likeness of Norman Reedus will not be continued," it said.

Confirmation of the project's termination comes weeks after it was revealed that Hideo Kojima, a director of the project, is preparing to leave Konami. Power struggles between staff at Kojima Productions and Konami had escalated to the stage where the publisher has begun seeking a new leadership team to work on future Metal Gear games.

Such developments had raised questions about the future for Silent Hills, a game that was supposed to be directed by Kojima and developed in partnership with director del Toro.

On Sunday, del Toro was quoted as saying to fans that his collaboration with Konami "is not gonna happen." Meanwhile, Konami confirmed to GameSpot early on Monday that its partnership with Norman Reedus, the actor initially signed to star in Silent Hills, had "expired."

Such questions were raised when it emerged that P.T., a playable teaser that was essentially a grand marketing initiative to publicize the Silent Hills Project, would be removed from the PlayStation Store in a matter of days.

However, the publisher appears open to the possibility of future collaborations with Kojima and del Toro.

"In terms of Kojima and del Toro being involved, discussions on future Silent Hill projects are currently underway, and please stay tuned for further announcements," the publisher said in a second statement, sent to Kotaku.

"We will continue to develop the Silent Hill series," the publisher added.