The creator of both the Silent Hill series and the 2024 new IP Slitterhead, Keiichiro Toyama, has announced he is working on his next game. While speaking with Japanese publication Famitsu during an exhibition for concept art for Slitterhead, a range of topics were discussed, including the reception of his latest game and his new project.
While Toyama reinforced that his new studio, founded to develop his 2024 game that saw a mixed reception at launch, wasn’t concerned with making a commercial game, but did acknowledge that the game performed below expectations. He also addressed some confusion over whether the game was intended as a horror title or an action title, something he stated hurt the game overall with its muddled marketing. He did say he was proud of Bokeh Game Studio for what they did make, which now has garnered a bit of a cult following for its extreme unusualness.
As for his next game, Toyama, as translated by Automaton, stated:
I can’t reveal the exact details, but we have started working on our next title. In the beginning, we wanted this to be a studio where we could do many different things, like implementing the ideas of younger generations and even working on more light-hearted projects
Once again, we have to pour in all our efforts as a studio and prove that we are up to the task. We are currently working towards that goal. However, we’re still in the beginning phase, so I believe we’ll be able to reveal more details somewhere in the future.
Toyama then stated that he did not conclude Slitterhead with a sequel or series in mind. Slitterhead is currently sitting on a 62 on Metacritic, and, given his statements, the title underperformed; it would make sense for the studio to work on a new IP. This isn’t explicitly stated here, but given his statements about the company’s mission structure, this seems like a safe conclusion to draw.
While we will need to wait and see what’s next for Bokeh Studio, the franchise that Toyama spawned in 1999, Silent Hill, is having a strong resurgence. Last year saw Bloober Team remake the beloved Silent Hill 2 to great effect, so much so that this year it was announced they will be remaking the original Silent Hill game as well. Later this year will also see the first new title release in the series in over a decade, Silent Hill f, which will move the action from small town America to the countryside of Japan.
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