Konami Teases Plans To Outsource Its Franchises, Giving Hope For Silent Hill

A producer at Konami appears to be teasing that the industry giant will be outsourcing their IPs in the near future.

I’ll do my best not to get on my P.T/Silent Hill high horse, but ever since Hideo Kojima’s project was unceremoniously cancelled in 2015, fans have been hoping for a series re-revival.

silent hill 2 dog ending
Credit: Konami

It’s been impossible to avoid rumours of a new Silent Hill or even a new Metal Gear Solid remake, especially when it’s around The Game Award or PlayStation Experience season.

Fans of franchises such as Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid have looked on in despair as Konami uses the iconic licenses to fund gambling machines. Yet, there is a glimmer of hope that Konami will soon do their beloved franchise justice.

Recently a retro action/adventure RPG series was revived. Getsu Fūma Den was released for the NES in 1987 and was exclusive to Japan. Just last month a sequel to this 34-year-old game was announced with GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon.

GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon will be developed by an indie studio called GuruGuru and is in collaboration with Konami. GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon will be a homage to the original game played in a 2D perspective, but will have gorgeous modern-day visuals and updated gameplay.

The revival of the Getsu Fūma Den series has quite naturally sparked hope that Konami will continue the trend of outsourcing their other IPs.

YouTube video

In an interview with JPGames [via VGC], Konami producer Shin Murato hinted that the industry giant may be open to outsourcing more of their IPs.

We are continually inspired by various indie titles, and how they innovate and produce exciting games,” said Murato.

We felt that GetsuFumaDen would be an interesting IP to bring back to follow this indie approach, and so we decided to contact GuruGuru as we know the team well.

They had been exploring new approaches for graphical design and thought they would be a great fit for this IP. It also helped that there were fans of the original GetsuFumaDen game within the GuruGuru team.

In terms of other collaborations, please wait for future projects like this!” added Murato.

At this time we can only speculate what IPs Konami might outsource, heck, it might even be a more obscure franchise and they might want to hold on to their favourite toys. Only time will tell.

Earlier this month Konami announced that it will not be attending this year’s E3, however, it did also announce that the team “are in deep development on a number of key projects, so please stay tuned for some updates in the coming months.

Snake MGS
Credit: Konami

Do you hope that Konami will revive Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, and Castlevania, or perhaps there is another franchise you would like to see?  Let us know across our social media channels.

GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon will release for PC (via Steam) and Nintendo Switch in 2022.

SHOP WITH GAMEBYTE!

Don’t forget you can find some of these great games and more through the new GameByte Shop! The GameByte Shop is stocked up with the latest games, merch and accessories. We might even have a new-gen console or two! Sign up to our newsletter to be notified of our console drops. Please note the GameByte Shop is available for UK customers only.

Featured Image Credit: Konami