For its final announcement, Konami revealed an “interactive streaming experience” that will be the brainchild of several known companies, including Behavior Interactive (developers of Dead by Daylight), Genvid (a studio that specializes in gaming-streaming hybrids), DJ2 Entertainment (a company that adopts games to film and TV), and finally Bad Robot Games, the gaming arm of J.J Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions. According to Konami, the project, Silent Hill: Ascension, will launch next year. The unusual partnership between the said companies hints at how unique Ascension will be. Judging from how Konami described the project, it should feel more similar to The Walking Dead: Last Mile. The weekly streaming show lets viewers and players decide what’s next. Genvid CEO, Jacob Navok, confirms that “players’ decisions are final” and “there is no reset button.” Navok explains that the goal is for Ascent to take the collective fear of audiences and turn it into a communal experience. Art director Chris Amaral hypes Ascension further by saying that the past traumas of the crowd-sourced character will affect the shape of the creators. Ascension feels less like a game and more like a show but also not quite like one. It’s clear that Konami has lofty ambitions for its Silent Hill revival. For what it’s worth, Konami chose to work with a capable group of companies. As the interactive streaming series will help shape Silent Hill canon, we’re curious to find out if Ascension can live up to the hype. Thankfully, with a 2023 release window, we won’t have to wait for too long to find out what Ascension is all about. If nothing else, it should help tide audiences over while waiting for the release of Silent Hill F, the Silent Hill 2 remake, and Silent Hill Townfall. All three of the other games have no release windows or dates at the moment. Konami didn’t give Return to Silent Hill, a live-action film based on the plot of Silent Hill 2, a premiere date.
