In 2023, Genvid Entertainment plans to launch Silent Hill: Ascension a massively interactive live event (MILE) based on the Konami horror franchise. The experience is being produced in conjunction with J.J. Abrams’s Bad Robot Games, Behaviour Interactive and DJ2 Entertainment.
Analysis
Silent Hill is a classic horror video game franchise originally launched in 1999 for the first PlayStation. The franchise has been dormant for several years but is looking to make a comeback. Horror games have become their own genre and Silent Hill was a pioneer. Surprisingly, in a recent DFC Intelligence survey of horror video game franchises, Silent Hill came in number two, behind Capcom’s Resident Evil.
The challenge in bringing back a franchise like Silent Hill is bringing a classic single player experience into the modern era of live services and community interaction with a story. Silent Hill is perfect for a MILEs-type event that allows users to interact and influence a core story.
In the recent DFC report on the metaverse and cloud games, the MILEs concept pioneered by Genvid was identified as a potential key driver of growth. Konami is bringing back Silent Hill in a major way and Silent Hill: Ascension is an example of how they are clearly in touch with modern times.
