According to GameWatch, Konami recently hosted a seminar titled “The Art of Producing Silent Hill” at Japan’s CEDEC 2026. During the event, series producer Motoi Okamoto and other notable development team members provided insights into the creation of Silent Hill 2’s remake and the upcoming Silent Hill f.
Notably, Okamoto shared his belief that for games where storytelling is paramount, it’s crucial for producers to engage with literature. He even goes so far as to say that commissioning a writer for a game’s narrative requires the producer to have read most of their published works. In Okamoto’s view, this isn’t just about “basic courtesy,” but also about grasping the writer’s unique style, quirks, strengths, and weaknesses. Given that every writer can produce both masterpieces and missteps, he sees it as the duty of the project’s leader to fully understand the writer’s traits and collaborate closely with them.
For Silent Hill f, Konami enlisted Ryukishi07, renowned for his work on the When They Cry visual novel series, to craft the scenario. Okamoto elaborates that this choice was driven by several factors – Ryukishi07’s proven track record in horror writing; his past projects indicating a strong connection to the Silent Hill series; and finally, Okamoto’s personal admiration for his work.
Highlighting the significance of “input” in game development, Okamoto states that, “within our team, we challenge each other, particularly the scenario writers, to read at least 100 to 200 books annually.”
With such a strong commitment, it’s sure to be intriguing to see which writers Konami approaches for future Silent Hill games, especially considering Okamoto’s pledge to continue experimenting with both narrative and gameplay in each new installment of the franchise.