After a decade of radio silence from Silent Hill, there’s finally something new to get excited about. Silent Hill f was announced as the ninth canon entry – and the first one in 10 years – into the franchise, and though information about it is scarce, it’s nothing short of a Christmas present for longtime fans.
Four Silent Hill projects were revealed to be in development during Konami’s Transmission event in 2022. Three of them follow the traditional narrative approach while the last one is an odd interactive game governed by the audience’s choices.
Unfortunately, none of them are a revival of Kojima’s canceled P.T. – I’m afraid that ship has sailed and now Kojima’s making his own horror game, Project Overdose. All eyes still remain on Silent Hill f as it’s the first mainline game since Downpour, and expectations for it are through the roof.
It’s been a long wait, but every passing day is another one closer to Silent Hill f’s release date. If you’re looking to find out when that exactly is, along with more about the game, then here are all the details the developers have spilled so far.
Silent Hill f Release Date Speculation
While there hasn’t been a confirmed release date for Silent Hill f, it was officially announced with a cryptic teaser in late 2022. Unfortunately, we haven’t had any update about it since.
The other three games revealed in Konami’s Transmission event were a remake of Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill: Ascension, and Silent Hill: Townfall. While Bloober Team is silently working on the Silent Hill 2 Remake, its release date should be revealed any day now. A leaker in early 2023 claimed that the remake had an internal release date of September 29, 2023. However, that has since been debunked.
Secondly, PlayStation announced that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 would launch on October 20, 2023, so it never made sense for the PS5 exclusive Silent Hill 2 remake to launch near that timeframe to begin with. You can count on the fact that the remake won’t drop until at least Q2 2024. And if that’s so, which I’m willing to bet it is, Silent Hill f will likely be a late 2025 release.
Silent Hill f’s Story Is Written By Ryukishi07
The spooky teaser trailer of Silent Hill f built great intrigue among fans. The creepy tone definitely made it look like a Silent Hill game, but the Japanese aesthetics caught many off guard. NeoBards Entertainment, known for Resident Evil Resistance, is developing the game, and they did comment on the peculiar story setting they chose for the ninth installment.
NeoBards stated that f would play out in 1960s Japan, making it the earliest in the Silent Hill timeline and the first not set in America in the eponymous town. Red spider Lilies were heavily featured in the teaser. These flowers symbolize abandonment, loss, death, separation, the afterlife, and everything bad, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s plenty of each in f.
The story is being written by the mangaka Ryukishi07, known to fans of the anime Higurashi: When They Cry.
The anime is praised for its sudden twists and dark moments, both things which align with the Silent Hill series, so choosing Ryukishi07 as the scriptwriter is a commendable move.
What Does The f In Silent Hill f Stand For?
The f in Silent Hill f is something the director wants us to figure out. The only term I can think of is the “press F to pay respects” meme. Though hopefully I’m wrong and the f doesn’t imply the burial of a classic horror franchise.
A popular internet theory is that the f stands for “forte” in music and that in the Silent Hill f trailer, it was being used as a reference since it’s stylized in the same way. Forte in music stands for a sound with variation in loudness, and there were many similar audio cues in the teaser.
Then again, it could mean a number of things. If you’re in the mood, tweet the creative director over at X and he might get back to you if you’re right.
Potential Platforms for Silent Hill f
Though unconfirmed, it’s speculated that Silent Hill f will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The precise platform availability may be clarified as we near the game’s release, with more details expected in the coming months.
Future of Silent Hill Franchise
Aside from Silent Hill f, Konami is actively developing several other projects within the franchise, including a remake of Silent Hill 2, which will be released only on PC and PS5.
There’s no word on whether it’s a timed exclusivity period, but if the remake can go this way, then so can its successors.
Be that as it may, there’s lots of Silent Hill coming up. A Silent Hill 2 remake and a film adaptation based on it, Return to Silent Hill. NoCode and Annapurna Interactive’s Silent Hill: Townfall, a video game anthology series.
Silent Hill: Ascension, a live-stream game where the outcome of the story will depend on the audience’s choices, crowd-control decision making if you will – there are weird things in the works.
And finally, Silent Hill f, the long-awaited prequel to the sequels.
The only mainline game from the bunch was f, and others are either a remake or just spin-offs. It’s safe to say that there’s a lot on the table, and depending on the success of these four new games, Konami might even pump up production speed, leading to a more stable presence of Silent Hill in the 2020s.
I’m afraid that’s all the insight we can give you into the future of Silent Hill f at this point. Despite a very lively 2023 with an amazing Summer Game Fest, PlayStation Showcase, and Xbox Showcase, no Silent Hill game made an appearance.
The year’s almost wrapping up, and while there’s a glimmer of hope for some fresh footage at The Game Awards this December, it’s more likely we’ll have the scoop on an official release date in 2024.