List of cancelled Silent Hill projects

There are various Silent Hill projects, including comics and games, that were cancelled by Konami or evolved into other projects.

Silent Hill (Com.X graphic novel)
Initially planned for release in November 1999 from publisher Com.X, a 70-page original graphic novel adaptation of the original game (ISBN:978-1903286005) was written by Jon Murphy and penciled by Neil Googe. Com.X founder Eddie Deighton explained in 2008:

"Neil originally came for an interview as a designer at the design agency Russell and myself ran, but as soon as we saw in his portfolio that Neil had trained as a comic artist and had worked on 2000AD, we ended up talking for about 4 hours about comics and the industry in general. By the time we finished, we felt that Neil's talent would have gone to waste if we'd taken him on as a designer, so we decided instead to propose to our client, Konami, that we should work with Neil on a graphic novel for the computer game Silent Hill. They felt it would be a cool thing to do, so Neil came on board and we began developing the project. Very quickly, we found that we all got on really well and by about the third week of working together, we felt we had a lot to contribute to the comic industry in terms of enthusiasm and creativity."

Googe was assigned six months to finished the full colour art for the graphic novel. Although it was completed and an advertisement was featured in a European catalogue, the adaptation was never released by Konami. He took an experimental approach to the comic layout, but because of his inexperience and lack of planning at the time, felt that not everything he tried worked. In May 2021, he explained in an email that the comic had been lost over time and alledged that (to the best of his memory) it was cancelled due to inter-company politics:

"Sadly that particular project has suffered the problem of so much older digital work. Stored on CDs and those CDs being lost over the years. The project was indeed finished. As for why it was never released... It was a long time ago now, but I will outline the basics of what I remember. Konami, as a company is broken down in to regional companies. We were commissioned by Konami europe (I believe) to produce the comic as promotional material for silent hill 2. It was going to be published separately and in a special edition of the game. Konami japan also wanted to use the comic. Konami europe, who had paid for the project, wanted some sort of payment for that use, from konami Japan. Konami Japan refused to pay any kind of fee. So Konami Europe said they couldn't use it. At which point Konami Japan, who technically own all copyrights on silent hill, then blocked europe from releasing the book under usage rights, not geting proper permission, etc. etc. And so... it was shelved. Now as I say, this is just my understanding of what happened from what I remember of a 20 year old project. I wasn't involved in any of those discussions or politics... I was just a guy hired to do a book."

Silent Hill 3 (Scrapped) and Silent Hill 5
The original plans for Silent Hill 3 were much different than what was released. The story would have continued the "inner fears" concept used for James Sunderland, Angela Orosco, and Eddie Dombrowski in Silent Hill 2. However, Konami was not pleased with the slow sales of Silent Hill 2 and pushed Team Silent to turn the game into a more commercial arcade-style rail shooter spin-off (not to be confused with the later-released Silent Hill: The Arcade). This plan was rejected by the team, but the process wasted much of the budget and development time for Silent Hill 3. Silent Hill 2 was also criticised on the internet at the time for not focusing on Alessa Gillespie and not having the same art style, characters, and creatures as the first game. As a result, Team Silent did not immediately move forward with their original Silent Hill 3 plans, instead opting to conclude the Alessa story from the original Silent Hill and tie up loose ends to appease fans. Not every Team Silent member agreed with this decision, though Akihiro Imamura stated that they also did not want to use a similar template for two games in a row.

Masashi Tsuboyama stated in 2004 that development had begun on Silent Hill 5, but denied rumours that the game would be titled "Shadows". After the release of Silent Hill 4: The Room, Team Silent began re-purposing their Silent Hill 3 plans for Silent Hill 5. Because of the underwhelming response to Silent Hill 4, Imamura wanted a strong fifth installment. The game would not follow the same gameplay style as Silent Hill 4 and would have had less melee combat and a more dramatic Otherworld that takes advantage of PlayStation 3 generation consoles. The plot of Silent Hill 5 (and previously Silent Hill 3) would have focused on a damaged human being summoned to Silent Hill, Maine for a very specific reason, described by Akira Yamaoka as "the darkest story we have come up with". Imamura speculated that some things would have to be cut to get passed the ratings system.

In contrast to the previous games in the series, Silent Hill 5 would have started off in Silent Hill as an everyday town with people going about their daily lives, which would slowly rot away as the game progresses. Taking inspiration from Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Jacob's Ladder, the game would have innovated the series with a brand new concept for daylight horror through a creepy sunny Otherworld, playing with the idea of how light interacts with darkness (rather than focusing on horror obscured by fog and shadows). It would have gone back to Silent Hill 2's psychological roots.

Following the cancellation of Silent Hill 5 and the release of Silent Hill: Homecoming, Double Helix Games' Kenzie LaMar stated: "Just remember and never forget that if you don't like the direction of where Silent Hill went the only people you can blame are Konami themselves. They are the ones who canned team Silent and wanted someone else to make the games. And Konami wanted the games to be different. Thats why team Silent was disbanded. They were losing faith in the franchise for years. And to further prove what I am saying, they made an arcade style Silent Hill shoot'em'up gun game!! How Silent Hill is that?!"

He added, "I just wish they had given the American team the game before they decided to change everything. Most people just assume the American team was to blame for all the changes when the reality is that it was Konami that wanted the changes. Team Silent was making a Silent Hill 5 and it got canned in favor of what ended up being done."

Silent Hill: Origins (Scrapped) & Silent Hill Remake
The original plan for Silent Hill: Origins was to remake the original game for the PSP. But after learning how much work it would take to redo the graphics from the ground up, Climax Studios thought it would be better to create something new instead.

When Silent Hill: Origins was being developed by the LA subsidiary of Climax Studios, it was going to be a dark comedy inspired by the TV show Scrubs, using the Ghostwriter engine and an over-the-shoulder camera system. Monsters such as the Straightjackets and Butcher were still present, as well as new creatures such as the Miners, Afflicted, a wheelchair monster, Piercer, and Meat. The player would be able to place barricades to protect themselves from threats. Rather than using a Radio to alert the player of enemies, the initial game used a more visual "chilled breath" que instead. If there were many enemies, the edges of the screen would freeze over. Much of the map was altered in the final version of the game. Locations include a burned debilitated hotel, the Doyle Asylum for the mentally ill (which once housed Dahlia Gillespie), the Orphium movie theatre, a meat packing plant, catacombs, and the Order's lair. The opening scene is similar to the final game's, except for Travis Grady (modelled after Norman Reedus during development) pulling his truck over to stop Mister Twilight instead of Alessa. Twilight flees at the sight of Alessa, who turns the town into its Fog World state. Travis then loses consciousness and awakes in a hospital room, trapped in the Otherworld. Alessa makes a deal with Travis – if he helps her obtain the Flauros, she will help him escape the town. Michael Kaufmann, who works at the hospital, is studying a drug called White Claudia and believes that it is linked to the weird events happening in Silent Hill. Mister Twilight acts in the background, pulling the strings on the game's events. Travis must make his way to the cult's lair, survive traps and otherworldly threats, and separate the Real World and the Otherworld. His plan succeeds, but unleashes Alessa's nightmare onto the town. Mister Twilight is revealed to be Michael Kaufmann. In a bad ending, Travis goes insane and becomes Pyramid Head.

Climax was not satisfied with the direction the game was going in, citing mismanagement and fearing that it might be a disaster. The game was subsequently transferred and overhauled by Climax's UK studio. In July 2019, Masahiro Ito of Team Silent was asked if he would be willing to work on a remake of the original game. He declined, stating "It will take about 3 years to build that. And you only live once. So repeating the same thing is just only a waste of time. Also I get bored easily."

Broken Covenant
In 2006, Climax Studios began working on a pitch for a PlayStation 3-exclusive Silent Hill game known as Broken Covenant. The plot would have focused on Alessa Gillespie's influence spreading outside of the town of Silent Hill, Maine, with the protagonist Father Hector Santos traveling from El Paso, Texas to Arizona to help his niece Anna. The Arizona town would begin to change and shift as it slowly becomes corrupted by Alessa's past memories, and Silent Hill locations from different time periods materialise across the American southwest. Members of the Order had relocated in Arizona, operating in an abandoned military base outside of Coyote Flats, believing that Anna is the next Alessa.

Father Santos would have the ability to perform holy rituals, with water as one of the key items to purify environments. Creatures would have included Demon Nurses, Miners, Mumblers, cockroaches, moths, bees (sometimes taking a humanoid shape) and even Pyramid Head. The pitch was initially rejected, but a modified version was proposed as a stand-alone episodic game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Alas, it was still rejected. Gameplay elements in the pitch included puzzles, stealth, over-the-shoulder camera, context-sensitive actions and vehicular encounters. Father Santos could sometimes gain access to a pickup truck, but only in cleansed areas. If enemies crashed into the truck, the player would be required to exit the truck to remove them.

Silent Hill DS
In 2006, WayForward Technologies was working on a Silent Hill title for the Nintendo DS. They built a one-room tech demo using assets from Silent Hill 2, but the project fell through.

Although Dementium: The Ward (2007) was conceived as an original title, developer Renegade Kid was open to developing it as a licensed title. The game was pitched to Konami as a Silent Hill game for the Nintendo DS, but was turned down. Konami was not entirely dismissive, but they did not want to venture into Nintendo DS gaming at the time.

Silent Hill: Cold Heart
Climax Studios pitched an interactive Silent Hill title for the Nintendo Wii about a traumatised high school student becoming trapped in Silent Hill during a blizzard. Describing itself as the "world’s first real psychological horror" game, the story, monsters, and gameplay would all change depending on the choices that the player makes. The pitch document can be read at. Ultimately, the game evolved into Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, which was instead a re-imagining of the original game.

The Box
Silicon Knights developed a pitch for a Silent Hill game titled The Box for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, dubbed as an "open-world third-person survival horror experience". At some point, it became an original title, renamed The Ritualyst and sold to THQ with Sega producing. Due to financial difficulties at THQ in 2009, the game never materialised.

Untitled Silent Hill sequel (2013)
Masahiro Ito was involved in a cancelled Silent Hill game in 2013. Due to non-disclosure agreements, information about it is limited. He describes the project as a "direct sequel",  similar to Silent Hill 3.

Because Ito designed Pyramid Head as a manifestation of James Sunderland's psyche, he was displeased with Pyramid Head's usage in later entries. He also felt that it would be difficult to convince Konami to make a new game without him, because of the brand recognition. If Pyramid Head was to be used, Ito wanted him to have an "impressive new direction" that players would accept. In the 2013 game, he designed brand new iterations of Valtiel and Pyramid Head that were distinct from what was seen in Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. The intention was for the more angelic Valtiel to kill Pyramid Head in the opening scene of the game. Concept art for the opening depicts a baby carriage on a bridge in the Otherworld.

The mysterious game was cancelled, but Masahiro Ito stated in 2017 that he would be willing to make a new Silent Hill if Pyramid Head is not in it or can be killed early in the game, and if it is not a direct sequel to an earlier installment.

Silent Hills
In 2014, an interactive teaser titled Silent Hills: Playable Teaser (P.T.) was released announcing the development of a new Silent Hill game called Silent Hills, from directors Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro, creature designer Junji Ito, and starring Norman Reedus as the player character. The teaser was not a demo segment of the game, instead a self-contained story announcing Silent Hills. The game was cancelled by Konami in 2015. Akira Yamaoka was hoping to score the project, but explained "the game was extremely early on in development, more so than people realize, so I wasn’t on board at all at the time. I wanted to be. But I was also surprised that it was cancelled, especially as a fan myself." Junji Ito had also not yet begun designing creatures when the game was cancelled and heard about the cancellation through outside sources.