Topic: New Silent Hill has been cancelled

[PyroMenace]

It's not official yet but there was this weird thing that happened internally at Konami where Hideo Kojima apparently left a couple weeks ago. Now they are removing the Silent Hill teaser P.T. from PSN next week. No idea what's going on but rumors have it that the game might be getting cancelled.

[MysterD]

Supposedly, Kojima + upper management are under contract as contractors w/ Konami to finish the Phantom Pain - and that's that.

Also, part of the problem w/ Silent Hills is it runs on Fox Engine, which is Kojima Production's game-engine that they own.
And, of course, Phantom Pain will run on that Fox Engine.

EDIT:
I do wonder lawfully + legally, where this all goes from here.
I do bet that some staff have probably already left Konami + who knows if more staff will leave Konami to possibily follow Kojima.
Does Konami own the name Kojima Productions? Or does Kojima own it?
I can definitely guess, Kojima will likely have his own studio or he already does - since it sounds like he left Konami, but they got him only under contract to finish MGS5.
Who owns the Fox Engine? Konami? Or Mr. Kojima?
I think once it's all over, we might see some legal battles over all kinds of stuff from Kojima + Konami.

[MysterD]

I also wonder what happens w/ Silent Hills.
I think Konami probably still owns the IP - so maybe they'll have to start over from scratch, if they so choose to?
Or come to some kind of agreement w/ Kojima about finishing the game + using Fox Engine (if he owns Fox Engine).

I don't know - but whole Kojima v. Konami situation is a total clusterfuck.

[TheOtherBelmont]

This is pretty much an official end to the Silent Hill franchise.  I would be surprised if anything else happens with it.  Kojima was partially responsible for trying to get another Silent Hill game made by Konami instead of outsourcing it to another studio like the last few have been.  Team Silent was pretty much a shell of its former self after Silent Hill 3 as well. There is a lot of love for the Silent Hill games but they do not make the kind of money that Konami wants to make off of them.  Konami has also been focusing more on mobile and pachinko games in Japan since those are making them lots of money with very little investment. From what I understand, Fox Engine and Kojima Productions is also 100% owned by Konami so those will not be going with Kojima and whatever of his staff they turned into contractors.

I'm interested to see what happens with Kojima after he leaves Konami but this still sucks.  This kind of thing is only going to become more common with Japanese developers in the next few years unless something changes drastically.  A lot of larger Japanese developers (not only Konami) are focusing more on free to play mobile games since so many of them are making the companies a lot of money for very little investment.  Large budget Japanese console games are probably not going to go away completely but they are going to become less common unless something drastic happens.

[MysterD]

Kotaku -> Voice-actor Norman Reedus and director Guerillmo del Toro are saying Silent Hills game's cancelled.

[PyroMenace]

Yea it's official now. That really sucks after how good that teaser was.

[PyroMenace]

[gpw11]

To be fair, every MGS game since MGS2 was going to be the last 'MGS" game.   I don't think prolonging the series has hurt it in any way as each installment is still really entertaining, but it might just be about time.

Silent Hills.....well, who knows.

[W7RE]

It's not official yet but there was this weird thing that happened internally at Konami where Hideo Kojima apparently left a couple weeks ago. Now they are removing the Silent Hill teaser P.T. from PSN next week. No idea what's going on but rumors have it that the game might be getting cancelled.

The part about PT needs some extra emphasis. If you snag it now, you should be able to download it anytime later, even after it's removed (I think it works that way). I grabbed it even though I don't own a PS4.

[scottws]

I'd say I'm sad, but the only SH game I really got into was 2.  I played and finished 3 and it was okay, but was a bit of a letdown for me after 2.  I also played The Room but could not get into it and didn't get very far into the game before quitting.  I've never played any of the others.

That said, SH2 is definitely among the top games I've ever played.

[idolminds]

I hope you downloaded PT when you had the chance. It has been pulled off of PSN and Konami went the extra mile to have it taken down fully, meaning even if you had it tied to your account you are unable to redownload it. So if you still have it installed and ever want to play through it again...never delete it. You can't get it back.

[W7RE]

Since I don't own a PS4 or know anyone who does... I guess I'll never get to play it.

Seriously, fuck Konami.

[MysterD]

I don't really know where to put this...

Polygon -> YouTuber SuperBunnyHop has a video about the Konami v. Kojima situation that has been brewing; tries to fill in some gaps (with rumors); Konami got it taken down w/ DMCA claim; and now it's back up on Youtube.

[MysterD]

GameSpot -> Looks like Konami is stopping all of development on their AAA console games.

So, here are the questions:
Is Konami going to sell off the IP's (which seems most likely, IMHO)?
Is Konami going to have outside companies work on AAA titles for their IP's?

[Cobra951]

I imagine they'll try to milk as much money as possible from the IPs.  If they're slated to go on Pachinko machines, they'll keep the IPs.  Otherwise, they'll sell them.

Good riddance to bad baggage.  At least it won't be a question in anyone's mind anymore, even the most diehard Konami fans.  They are history.

[idolminds]

Yeah Konami isn't going to sell the IPs. It makes more sense to use them for their pachinko business or even license them to 3rd parties if they want to make games with them.

[Quemaqua]

Pretty much expected. Still kind of a bummer. Not so much because I care about losing Konami, but because it sucks to see bad things happen to gaming. But hopefully this will turn out to be a better thing ... for every big guy that drops out, that leaves room for a smaller one to fill his shoes. I'd love to see some more passionate Japanese studio turn this into an opportunity. Maybe someone that can find a way to get back some of the lost Japanese market.

[Cobra951]

Losing Konami is like losing an old friend.

[PyroMenace]

I can really empathize with the guy in that article but couldn't help but feel he is a bit out of touch. Konami is one of dozens of corporate names invested in gaming that have been eaten away in an industry where there's barely any room for triple A games. In fact, it managed to escape without destroying itself. The only real company I can think of that has managed to keep its historic grace and face is Nintendo despite how much I tend to call them out. In the end, I could never personify a company like I could when I was younger. They are made up of swaths of people that come and go that shift in ideals in business and politics, very few brand names mean virtually anything.

[Quemaqua]

Totally agreed. I didn't read the article, but that's my take on it as well, Pyro. I do feel a little sad about it, but like I said, more due to the state of gaming that made this happen than because of the loss of a company.

Still, games aren't going anywhere. They will change and adapt, both here and abroad. We'll just get to see how it plays out.