This game revolutionized horror without ever being released. If not for it, the genre would look very different today

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The world of horror video games shifted in August 2014 with the release of *P.T.*, a demo for the planned game *Silent Hills*. Sadly, despite being a collaboration between renowned creators Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro, and Norman Reedus, the full game was ultimately never released.

Silent Hills timeline

gamescom has always been a preview of the biggest gaming events of the year – historically, those were the June showcases led by E3, and more recently, the Summer Game Fest has attempted to fill that role. However, Cologne has consistently seen major game announcements, and Silent Hills was arguably the most memorable reveal.

Hideo Kojima introduced a mysterious project in his signature way. In August 2014, a trailer for *P.T.* was released, supposedly created by the new studio, 7780s Studio. A demo of the game was also made available on the PlayStation Store for anyone who wanted to try it.

It didn’t take long to figure out what was going on with this demo. A Twitch user named SoapyWarping was the first to finish it and discovered it was actually a playable preview of the new *Silent Hills* game. They also found out who the main people working on the project were.

Almost immediately, rumors started spreading about what the project would include. We’ll discuss those details later. However, by March 2015, serious problems were emerging for Hideo Kojima, his studio Kojima Productions, and the game *Silent Hills*. It was then announced that Kojima had been removed from the *Metal Gear Solid* franchise, effectively ending his working relationship with Konami.

Soon after, the Kojima Productions logo was taken down from the game’s website, and just over three weeks later, it was announced that P.T. would be removed from the PlayStation Store. Even worse, players who had already downloaded it lost access to it, meaning it could no longer be downloaded. This made PlayStation consoles that still had P.T. installed on them highly sought-after collectibles.

As expected, this news caused significant worry about the project’s continuation. Those concerns proved valid in late April 2015, when Konami announced that while they still owned the *Silent Hill* series, the specific game *Silent Hills* had been canceled.

Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus were both upset when the video game *Silent Hills* was cancelled. Two years later, del Toro publicly criticized the decision again, calling it a very foolish move and stating his disapproval of Konami.

Ideas for Silent Hills

Not much is known about how *Silent Hills* will actually play. Hideo Kojima and his team have said they’re planning to use a first-person viewpoint, but they haven’t ruled out the possibility of also including a third-person camera option.

People believed *Silent Hills* would be an open-world game because the game engine it used, the Fox Engine, was built for that type of design. Years later, a fan actually found evidence within the game that seemed to confirm this idea, suggesting a larger, explorable town was planned.

How did the creators of *Silent Hills* plan to frighten players? Hideo Kojima recently explained his approach in an interview with Eurogamer.

I’ll admit, I don’t usually enjoy horror – it really frightens me! But I think being afraid might actually help me create something truly scary, so I’m willing to give it a try.

The legacy of Silent Hills

We never experienced the complete terror Hideo Kojima envisioned with *P.T.*, as it was just a short teaser, not a playable demo. However, after the game was cancelled, many other games emerged, attempting to recreate its intensely scary atmosphere. Titles like Layers of Fear, Visage, and MADiSON appeared, and even Capcom took notice, changing Resident Evil VII: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village to a first-person viewpoint.

The story of *Silent Hills* didn’t end with its cancellation. In 2020, people started speculating about a possible revival. However, Konami had other ideas for the *Silent Hill* series, and the Bloober Team became central to those plans – initially by completely rebuilding *Silent Hill 2*, and then working on a remake of the original game. Eventually, a new main *Silent Hill* game, *Silent Hill f*, was announced, taking the series in a fresh, different direction.

Looking back, even though the game *Silent Hills* was cancelled, Norman Reedus, Hideo Kojima, and Guillermo del Toro didn’t stop working together. They went on to create a new game called *Death Stranding*, which was a success and started a whole new series.

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2025-09-21 21:03