Masahiro Ito, known for his art work on the acclaimed Silent Hill franchise, has announced on Twitter that he is working on a new project. Ito was a member of Team Silent, the development team responsible for the first four games in the franchise, and was involved with each game in the series until Team Silent was disbanded and the series was handed to Western developers.
The most recent main series Silent Hill game was Silent Hill: Downpour in 2012. The game met with mixed reviews due to its technical performance, and the series stagnated until 2014, when P.T. was released as a free download on the PlayStation Network. Shortly after its release, P.T. was revealed to be a playable teaser trailer for the latest game in the Silent Hill franchise, Silent Hills. The game was set to be developed by Kojima Productions under the direction of Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro. P.T. was praised for its cryptic nature and tense, atmospheric horror but a year after its release Silent Hills was cancelled, due to Kojima's exit from Konami. The publisher then removed P.T. from the PlayStation Network and removed the ability for players to re-install the teaser, a decision that was met with heavy criticism.
Yesterday, Masahiro Ito posted on Twitter that he was working on a new title as a "core member." He also said that "I hope the title won't be cancelled," in a reference to the fate of Silent Hills. This announcement has sparked a great deal of excitement and conjecture from fans, but Ito has said that he cannot share any further details.
In 2012, Ito stated on Twitter that he would be willing to work with Hideo Kojima on a new Silent Hill game, if Kojima were to "demand it." While he was not involved with P.T., Ito clearly had some interest in the Silent Hills project, and it is likely no coincidence that he referenced it so clearly in his Twitter announcement yesterday.
While there are practically no facts to speak of, Ito's presence as a core member on a video game is sure to excite Silent Hill fans. Most of his career has been related to that franchise, and even if this new project is not a Silent Hill game, there's still a good chance that it will be a horror game. While there is no hard evidence to suggest that Hideo Kojima will be involved, the famed developer did recently express intent to work on a horror project. If these two facts combine the way fans want them to, this should result in a very exciting prospect for horror fans, provided, as Masahiro Ito himself hopes, the game doesn't get cancelled.
Source: Masahiro Ito