It's only been a week since Silent Hill: The Short Message's release, but the game has already been downloaded more than 1 million times on PlayStation 5. Konami dropped the game as a free download on the PlayStation Store following a State of Play event. While reception to the game has been mixed, it's clear that the nature of its release led to a lot of people giving it a try. That seems to be a win as far as Konami is concerned, and it will be interesting to see if this leads to greater interest in the publisher's future Silent Hill projects.

The announcement from Silent Hill's Japanese Twitter account can be found below.

The Silent Hill series has always dealt with heavy themes, and The Short Message is no exception. The game's storyline centers on bullying, depression and suicide. Some have criticized how these topics were handled by the developers, resulting in a wide range of opinions on the game's quality. Across social media, some users have trashed the way the developers approached the material, while others have offered praise. Fans of the series will have to play it to judge for themselves, but this might be one of the most polarizing entries in the series so far.

The Future of Silent Hill
In late 2022, Konami surprised fans when it announced several new projects based on the Silent Hill franchise, including a remake of Silent Hill 2, and an entirely new game called Silent Hill f. Neither of these games has been released yet, though Silent Hill 2 seems to be farther along from everything that's been shown. The Short Message was a surprise release last week, announced and made available on the same day. Konami also partnered with Genvid on an interactive series titled Silent Hill: Ascension, though reception has been largely negative.

Konami Games
For several years, it seemed that Konami had largely abandoned the video game industry, instead focusing on other aspects of its business. During that time, the publisher had moved away from working on AAA games, focusing instead on smaller titles like Super Bomberman R, as well as compilations like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection. The publisher's output became so minimal, the company was forced to repeatedly address rumors that it was planning to abandon gaming altogether.

Those concerns seem to have faded, of late. Konami is back to releasing bigger projects, including games like Silent Hill 2 and the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3. There are still other major Konami franchises that fans would like to see revisited, most notably Castlevania. It remains to be seen when or if Castlevania might get the same treatment as Konami's other key franchises, but hopefully fans won't be kept waiting for too long!

『SILENT HILL: The Short Message』

100万ダウンロードを突破しました。
プレイいただいた皆さまありがとうございます。

公式サイト：https://t.co/nbv0zTpl5P#SILENTHILL #SHTSM pic.twitter.com/aQKTTPURhU

— SILENT HILL (@silenthill_jp) February 6, 2024

Posted: Feb 12, 2024 1:24 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/silent-hill-the-short-message-1-million-downloads/