Team Silent

Last updated
Team Silent
Company type Division
Industry Video games
Founded1996 [1]
Headquarters,
Japan
Key people
  • Hiroyuki Owaku (writer)
  • Akira Yamaoka (sound director)
  • Masahiro Ito (art director)
Products Silent Hill
Parent Konami

Team Silent was a development team within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET), responsible for the first four games in the Silent Hill franchise by Konami released from 1999 to 2004. [2] [3] Later titles were developed by non-Japanese companies such as Climax Studios, Double Helix Games and Vatra Games. According to composer Akira Yamaoka, Team Silent consisted of staff members that had failed at other projects and originally intended to leave the company before the first Silent Hill game turned out to be a success. [4] According to a Silent Hill: Homecoming artist, Team Silent was ultimately disbanded by Konami itself, because Konami wanted Western developers to make the games. [5] KCET was merged into the parent company in April 2005. [6]

Key members of Team Silent include:

Akira Yamaoka played a major role in the Silent Hill film adaptation by overseeing and approving specific aspects of the movie throughout its production. Some of the original members (as led by Toyama, director of the first Silent Hill game) went on to create the Siren series, which has a similar atmosphere to the Silent Hill franchise.

In 2017, when asked if Team Silent would ever reunite, Yamaoka said he was not against the idea, but also said that "it's hard to say because everyone has evolved, and maybe the mindset has changed as well. Also, the technology and the games industry as a whole has changed as well. Even if we got back together I'm not even sure we could do something great so it's very hard to say at the moment". [14]

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References

  1. Sato, Takayoshi. "My Resume". SatoWorks. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  2. "E3 2001: Silent Hill 2 Interview". IGN . IGN Entertainment, Inc. May 17, 2001. Archived from the original on April 4, 2002. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  3. "IGN Top 100 Games 2007: 97 Silent Hill 2". IGN . IGN Entertainment, Inc. 2007. Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  4. "Silent Hill: Så skapade Konami skräckhistoria". Level (in Swedish). Reset Media AB (23). March 2008.
  5. Tom Goldman (January 18, 2011). "Silent Hill Artist Claims Konami Disbanded Team Silent | The Escapist". Escapistmagazine.com. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  6. "Notification of Business Conducted at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders" (PDF). Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. February 22, 2005. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  7. "Silent Hill creator discusses how he joined the game biz and why AAA horror is 'difficult' to fund". Polygon.com. October 30, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  8. "E3 2002: Interview with Hiroyuki Owaku, Akira Yamaoka and Kazuhide Nakazawa (IGN)". Silent Hill Memories. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  9. Ito, Masahiro (June 14, 2010). "Nobu bbs: scenario writers". GMO Media, Inc. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  10. IGN
  11. "Interview: Akira Yamaoka explains Grasshopper jump".
  12. "Q&A: Konami's Akihiro Imamura". GameSpot. May 17, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  13. "Silence Is Golden: Takayoshi Sato's Occidental Journey". Gamasutra. August 25, 2005. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  14. Donnelly, Joe. "Akira Yamaoka would 'love' to see Silent Hill revived, is open to Team Silent reunion". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 29, 2022.