Akira Yamaoka would 'love' to see Silent Hill revived, is open to Team Silent reunion

It's unfortunate that 2008's uninspiring Homecoming is the only Silent Hill game available digitally on PC—particularly when Team Silent's offerings between 1999-2004 are considered some of the best examples of the survival horror genre. It's more unfortunate still that despite almost being revived by Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima, 2012's disappointing Downpour may be the last we ever see of the series' renowned psychological terror.

Speaking at Gamescom, however, series composer and integral member of Team Silent Akira Yamaoka said he would "love" to see the series revived, and that while he's currently very happy working alongside Suda 51 at Grasshopper Manufacture, he's "not against" a Team Silent reformation. 

Our conversation comes off the back of Yamaoka's recently-announcement involvement with Wargaming's World of Tanks, however the esteemed composer is more than happy to discuss some of his favourite earlier work on Silent Hill.    

"I can't really say if there will be another Silent Hill or not," he tells me via a translator. "First of all, I'm happy that fans of the series around the world are still asking us questions about it. Personally, of course, I'd love this to happen, but I obviously couldn't say for sure [either way]."

I press Yamaoka about Team Silent, and suggest that by expressing his desire to see the series recapture its past, it would appear he's open to getting the band back together. 

"I'm not against it," he affirms. "But 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."

I then ask Yamaoka for his thoughts on Kojima's ill-fated Silent Hills. Fans of the series, myself included, were left wanting following the Metal Gear creator's spat with Konami and while Death Stranding does look interesting, Silent Hills looked oh-so-promising.   

"It's hard to say, everyone was really sad about that, so I kind of followed the mood of everybody else," says Yamaoka, while laughing loudly. "Since everyone was saying: it's a shame, it's too bad—maybe it is a shame and it is too bad." 

Look out for our full interview with Akira Yamaoka later this week—wherein he discusses Team Silent, working with Grasshopper and Suda 51, and his most recent involvement with Wargaming on World of Tanks.

Deputy Editor, PC Gaming Show
Latest in Action
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft reportedly has an anti-harassment plan in place for Assassin's Creed Shadows developers
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
Monster Hunter Wilds' new gyro controls are a fantastic option for disabled and able-bodied players alike
Manhunt 2
I played the notoriously ratings-board-ravaged Manhunt 2 and was quite glad for the censorship actually
Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect's Jennifer Hale, who played femshep, 'saw no line' before she recorded them for Bioware's flagship trilogy: 'It was all cold reading on the spot'
A hunter hefts a massive Mega Barrel Bomb in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds players can't stop blowing themselves to smithereens with its rollable barrel bombs
A hunter poses with a large hammer as their palico cheers nearby in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds weapon tier list
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft reportedly has an anti-harassment plan in place for Assassin's Creed Shadows developers
Avowed Kai holding out his hand toward camera while explaining something to the player.
Avowed's new patch just gave you 6 more talent points to muck around with, along with a heap of fixes and improvements
In-game recreation of iconic Indiana Jones stealing the idol in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Silent Hill 2 remake and Indiana Jones are at historically low prices this Steam Spring Sale—so long as you don't buy them directly from Steam
MSI RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio OC Plus graphics card under a red light
This MSI Afterburner file unlocks 36 Gbps RTX 50-series memory overclocks for, y'know, the few people that actually own a card
A Steam Deck with SteamOS running in desktop mode.
A new and improved desktop experience just landed on Steam Deck and SteamOS is readying 'support for non-Steam Deck handhelds'
Olivia, a hunter from Monster Hunter Wilds, looks perplexed in an icy blue environment.
Monster Hunter Wilds players wonder if frenzied monsters are a little undercooked, as one slaps a sickly bird into a fine paste in just 25 seconds