Following a flurry of announcements related to Konami’s Silent Hill franchise — including multiple new games, a remaster from a beloved title in its back catalog, and a new movie — people are trying to wrap their heads around something called Silent Hill: Ascension, which doesn’t quite sound like a straight forward game or show, but perhaps something in-between.
Here is the tweet Konami posted on Twitter regarding Silent Hill: Ascension:
We are pleased to announce, SILENT HILL: Ascension, a new interactive streaming experience launching in 2023. Hear more from Genvid’s Jacob Navok in this special video, which includes a message from Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and other partners.
Two names associated with Silent Hill: Ascension give more clues to the nature of the project. For one, Genvid is a company associated with “Massively Interactive Live Events,” according to their website. J.J. Abrams and his production company, Bad Robot, is a name associated largely with filmmaking since the director helmed box office smash films such as Star Trek and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.
Genvid CEO Jacob Navok explained during the live stream reveal for the title what the concept for Ascension is all about, with the interview being available at Ascension.com:
It’s a live, real-time, interactive series, where millions of fans will watch together as the chilling story unfolds. You can change its outcomes and even be a part of scenes. There is no reset button. Decisions that you make mean life or death in the story. It’s your chance to shape Silent Hill canon forever.
Bad Robot Games’ Chris Amarel was also revealed as being the art director for Ascension. The fact that it is Bad Robot’s gaming division of the company involved with the project illustrates that the forthcoming title likely won’t be a straight-up movie or TV show, but something more interactive.
Other companies associated with the creation of Ascension include dj2 Entertainment — which is a production company that specializes in video-game-to-TV titles — and Behavior Interactive, the developers behind Dead by Daylight, according to IGN. The article went on to make an educated hypothesis about what Ascension will truly be, in concrete terms, pending any further announcements, demos, or trailers released by Konami themselves:
With those names on board, we can probably guess that this will be some sort of hybrid video game/livestreamed experience with an interactive component, but we’ll have to wait for more details to be sure.
Kotaku also wrote that the concept for Ascension “sounds akin to Until Dawn,” the 2015 video game for PlayStation 4 that has been described as an “interactive drama.”
“While few details were given, Silent Hill: Ascension appears to allow groups of viewers to collectively decide what happens next in the story,” noted Video Games Chornicle.
A firm release date for Silent Hill: Ascension has not been announced, but it is expected to come out sometime in 2023.
Published: Oct 19, 2022 05:59 pm