After much speculation, even quasi-confirmation, and one confusing side-stepping statement by Konami, the publisher this morning confirmed to Polygon that Silent Hills is dead.
The latest game in the Silent Hill franchise was teased with the very well-received playable teaser P.T.
"Konami is committed to new Silent Hill titles, however the embryonic Silent Hills project developed with Guillermo del Toro and featuring the likeness of Norman Reedus will not be continued," according to the statement provided to Polygon.
Confirmation of the cancellation comes after a weekend of comments from those directly involved in the game saying it is dead.
Saturday night the director Guillermo del Toro, who had been co-directing the game with Hideo Kojima, is said to have told attendees at a film festival in San Francisco that Silent Hills "is not gonna happen," according to an attendee via Twitter. Del Toro's assistant retweeted that, and then made other comments indicating the project was being shelved.
Sunday, Norman Reedus, the Walking Dead actor playing Silent Hills' protagonist, echoed the sentiment on his own Twitter.
Both comments came after news hit Friday that P.T., the game's "playable teaser," would be pulled from PlayStation Network on April 29, another sign pointing to a strange breakup between Konami and Hideo Kojima, who was collaborating with Del Toro in directing Silent Hills.
Attention now turns to Konami's other franchises, namely Metal Gear Solid. Last month, Konami removed Kojima's name and the Kojima Productions logo from the official Metal Gear Solid websites, Twitter accounts and marketing materials. That spawned reports that Kojima would be leaving the publisher for whom he has worked his entire career.
While Kojima has remained silent during this breakdown, sources tell Polygon he is looking to go elsewhere and isn't tweeting out of concern of breaking his contract.
Silent Hills was, with Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain, one of only two console games actively under development to be published by Konami. The Phantom Pain is due for a Sept. 1 launch. A third franchise, Pro Evolution Soccer, typically launches in the fall, but its latest edition has not been announced.
Teaser Trailer: P.T.