SILENT HILLS: Everything we know about Masahiro Ito and Hideo Kojima's rumored game-UNR

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I have created this post to compile and summarize everything we know about the rumored Silent Hill title, and give a history of everything that has transpired in the last few years.

1. Hideo Kojima was first asked by Konami to make a Silent Hill game in 2012. He said on the matter, "I think Silent Hill has a certain atmosphere. I think it has to continue, and I'd love to help it continue, and if I can help by supervising or lending the technology of the Fox Engine, then I'd love to participate in that respect."
2. In November 2012, Masahiro Ito was asked on Twitter if he would work with Hideo Kojima on a new Silent Hill game. He responded, "Yes. If he were to demand it."
3. In August 2014, a mysterious game called P.T. dropped on the Playstation 4. It was ostensibly a demo for an indie horror game. However, as you play the game, subtle clues were dropped that it might be related to Silent Hill (including the Grey Child sound effect being used for Lisa, and references to Silent Hill 4's bathroom). By the end, the game was revealed to be a standalone game announcing the next Silent Hill game Silent Hills.
4. Contrary to popular misconception, P.T. is not a demo/segment of Silent Hills, but just a playable teaser for the game. To date, Kojima hasn't given any indication that Silent Hills was intended to have a first or third person perspective or follow the same plot points as P.T.
5. Silent Hills would have starred Norman Reedus as the player character, and the game was hinted at being set in the Northwestern United States (outside of the titular Silent Hill, Maine). Guillermo Del Toro (Pans Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, Blade II, Shape of Water, Hellboy, The Strain) would have co-directed the game with Kojima. Junji Ito was on board as a creature designer. Akira Yamoaka was hoping to do the musical score.
6. Silent Hills was subsequently cancelled and P.T. was erased from existence, prompting record fan outrage. P.T. was one of the most influential horror games of the 2010s and Silent Hills was highly anticipated even outside of the SH fandom. Silent Hills was still in early development when it was cancelled, to the point that Junji Ito hadn't even begun creature work or signed a contract yet. Konami released a statement claiming that they are "committed to new Silent Hill titles."
7. Let's go back a little bit. Remember Masahiro Ito? Well, he was actually working on a Silent Hill in 2013 (which fits the time frame of when Silent Hills would have begun development). Because of NDAs, he hasn't been able to identify the game or give many plot details.
8. Ito has been very unhappy with Pyramid Head being used outside of SH2, because he was designed specifically for James Sunderland (sources here). He has spoken out against other characters having a Pyramid Head and believes that Konami would be unwilling to make a new game without some variation of PH, so in his 2013 game, he had a plan...
9. Here is concept art from the opening scene of the game: https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/842030272937844738 (higher resolution). The baby carriage probably holds significance. Because of Ito's distaste with Pyramid Head rearing his pyramid head in the later games, he planned to kill him off in the opening of the 2013 game. The game would have introduced a new manifestation of the cult's angel Valtiel, who ultimately would have killed PH. This version has crimson red wings and a more angelic appearance. Masahiro Ito's design for the new Valtiel can be seen here: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5wXIXFVMAAHX_s?format=jpg&name=large
10. Back to the post-Silent Hills cancellation. Despite Konami claiming that they were devoted to new Silent Hill titles (and widespread demand for Silent Hills to be revived), Konami shut down most of their console division and began focusing mostly on remasters, sporting games, mobile games, and gambling.
11. Kojima split from Konami and went on to make Death Stranding with Reedus and Del Toro. It wrapped production and was released in 2019.
12. In the meantime, Konami resurrected Silent Hill... as a pachislot machine. Because of the cancellation of the highly anticipated Silent Hills, and because of gambling machines and the cutscenes being completely out of sync with what Silent Hill is as a work of fiction, many fans considered this to be a middle finger from Konami.
13. From the cancellation of Silent Hills, and excluding gambling products, Silent Hill remained silent for the next few years.
14. In 2017, Masahiro Ito revealed that he had not abandoned his plans to kill Pyramid Head in the opening of a new Silent Hill game, should he make one: https://twitter.com/adsk4/status/867501554554724352
15. In 2019, Konami renewed their Silent Hill trademark, prompting rumors of a new game: https://gamerant.com/silent-hill-trademark-renewal/
16. Wrong. Another pachislot machine was released: https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3588785/konami-brings-back-silent-hill-pachinko-machine/
17. But here's where things start to get real. In September 2019, Konami released a statement declaring that high end console games are once again "important to our future."
18. In November 2019, Hideo Kojima revealed that he is working on an unidentified horror game: https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1197880438603145216
19. In January 2020, Masahiro Ito tweeted "I'm working on a title as a core member. I hope the title won't be cancelled. About that, I can tell you nothing yet. ( ´•ᴗ•) "
20. Also in January 2020, rumors began circulating that Konami is developing two Silent Hill projects - A soft reboot and an episodic Telltale/Until Dawn-type game. At the same time, Eurogamer reported that relations between Kojima and Konami have greatly improved since their 2014 falling out and Konami released a statement saying "We cannot share anything at this point, but we are listening to customer feedback and considering ways to provide the next title."
21. Not long after that, a reddit leaker claimed that Konami is working on a full remake of one of the older games and a Shattered Memories-style spin-off, implying a game of telephone between rumors.
22. Soon after that, Kojima tweeted this cryptic tweet hinting at an announcement the following week, and Masahiro Ito simultaneously twitted "R.I.P. Pyramid Head" teasing Pyramid Head's death. Jeremy Blaustein aka Dragonbaby (the translator of the original Team Silent games) replied "About time..."
23. Soon after, Kojima Productions tweeted out a member of Konami joining Kojima's staff. This culminated in a LOT of speculation about an upcoming Silent Hill title.
24. The following week, Kojima instead announced the release date of the PC port of Death Stranding and a Half-Life crossover. However, speculation has not died down for obvious reasons.
25. Aesthetic Gamer, the original leaker of the "two Silent Hill games" rumor (who has been reliable in the past with Resident Evil leaks) clarified more information. However, he stressed that you should take all of it with a grain of salt. For starters, Kojima is working with Junji Ito on a Death Stranding manga. But more pertinently, Konami was reaching out to developers to produce two Silent Hill titles. One, a soft reboot. Two, an episodic title.
26. (Cont'd) Apparently, Supermassive Games (Until Dawn) was contacted for the episodic game, but they didn't get the job. He doesn't say whether the episodic game is still happening, but Konami is also shopping around for other SH stuff.
27. (Cont'd) Sony is also currently mediating between Kojima and Konami, and they are helping to fund the upcoming SH games. He doesn't say much, but apparently the Kojima game is only IN TALKS and not yet in development. However, Masahiro Ito did begin developing a new SH soft reboot in 2019 and it has been an open secret in the video game industry for a while now. Apparently, there's a few different studios involved with the soft reboot and Ito is working with SH1 creator Keiichero Toyama and Akira Yamaoka.
28. (Cont'd) Konami still owns the rights, by the way. Not Sony.
29. The horror/fan site Rely On Horror also joined in with a new report. However, for reasons outlined here, it's probably fake for reasons outlined here and here (see also this, this, and this). Kojima supposedly working on a Telltale-styled game and Konami (the developer who tried to turn SH3 into a rail shooter and who has never had a problem with shaking up canon) putting Kojima on a spin-off to give him "total creative freedom" are the biggest tip-offs that their report is false. It mostly rehashes other reports anyway, and it contradicts details of Aesthetic Gamer's report (and he has a better track record than they do).

I think I summarized all of the important stuff. If I left anything out, be sure to let me know.

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