Update: Are Microsoft Planning On Buying Silent Hills Rights Ready For E3?

Update: As many of us suspected, this story was indeed a big fat rumour, which has been confirmed by Xbox chief Phil Spencer. When a fan tweeted that he hopes the rumour is true, Spencer replied “Sorry, this isn’t true. Not sure where the rumor started but I don’t want to mislead anyone.”  You can see his tweet below.

@GoReds42093 @Xbox Sorry, this isn’t true. Not sure where the rumor started but I don’t want to mislead anyone.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) May 30, 2015

Original Story 29/05/15: Now this is a rumour that must be taken by a huge grain of salt once more, especially with the source being anonymous (regardless of how credible they claim them to be).  The rumour comes via the YouTube channel going by the name of TheKnow.  They say that Microsoft are trying to rush through a deal so that an announcement can be made in time for E3 next month regarding Silent Hills becoming an Xbox One exclusive.

They also claim that the deal is worth “billions”, which I find hard to believe, because until the release of P.T on PSN, only the hardcore fans really cared about Silent Hill enough to continue to buy the games, especially with the series being many years past its best.  It is also said that P.T was removed from the PSN Store as a show of good faith to Microsoft, and not due to the demo effectively having an expiry date.  Again this is all rumour.

If in the unlikelihood this does happen, it won’t be because Silent Hill’s needs saving for financial reasons, because Konami can certainly afford to continue the development and release this game (multiformat) if they choose too.  If this ends up being true and Konami sells the Silent Hills rights to Microsoft, then it is just pure corporate greed in my opinion.  And Microsoft would be effectively be paying Konami off so that PS4 (and possibly PC) owners can’t play the game, from a series that has been largely multiformat over its long running history.

In my humble opinion, exclusives such as your Uncharted’s and Halo’s are fair game, but bullshit like this just spites the gaming community as a whole.  Most of us by now would have seen the “Fuck Konami” movement, which just shows how much they have been pissing off their extremely loyal and passionate community.  So please Konami, coming from just one loyal life-long fan, don’t piss off your fans more then you already have and please let this just be a mere rumour that will never surface.

In a recent statement released by Konami, they said “We would also like to take this opportunity to state that the Metal Gear and Silent Hill series, both beloved by countless fans around the globe, are also extremely important to Konami.”  Only time will tell how much Konami really do value their “beloved and countless fans” that are “extremely important to Konami.”

If I’m being honest, I can’t see this happening, but nothing surprises me in this industry, especially when it involves large sums of money.  But I would rather see this game happen, then not happen (even though Konami has stated that they will continue to develop Silent Hill).  I just hope that if Silent Hill/s does happen, in an ideal world, I would love nothing more than to see it release for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.