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Team Silent

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Team Silent
TypeDivision
IndustryVideo games
Founded1996; 30 years ago (1996)[1]
Defunct2007; 19 years ago (2007)[2]
FateDisbanded by Konami
Headquarters
Tokyo
,
Japan
Key people
  • Hiroyuki Owaku (writer)
  • Akira Yamaoka (sound director)
  • Masahiro Ito (art director)
ProductsSilent Hill
Number of employees
70[3] (2004)
ParentKonami

Team Silent was a Japanese development team within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET), responsible for the first four games in the Silent Hill franchise by Konami released from 1999 to 2004.[4][5] KCET was merged into the parent company in April 2005.[6]

History

[edit]

According to Kenzie LaMar, lead character artist of Silent Hill: Homecoming, Team Silent was ultimately disbanded by Konami itself, because Konami wanted Western developers to make the games.[7] Later titles were developed by non-Japanese companies such as Climax Studios, Double Helix Games and Vatra Games.

Members

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Key members of Team Silent include (arranged by last name):

  • Norihito Hatakeda: Graphic engine programmer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. He later joined Kojima Productions.
  • Akihiro Imamura: Game system programmer of Silent Hill, producer of Silent Hill 2,[8] sub-producer of Silent Hill 4: The Room.
  • Masahiro Ito: Background and monster designer of Silent Hill, art director and monster designer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3.[9] Left Konami in 2006 and became a freelance artist.
  • Gozo Kitao: Producer of Silent Hill, executive producer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3.
  • Suguru Murakoshi: Drama director and animator of Silent Hill 2, director and scenario writer of Silent Hill 4: The Room. He later worked at Kojima Productions and Tango Gameworks.
  • Kazuhide Nakazawa: Character animator of Silent Hill 2, director and monster designer of Silent Hill 3.[10]
  • Hiroyuki Owaku: Enemy and event programmer of Silent Hill, scenario writer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3.[11]
  • Takayoshi Sato: Character designer and CGI creator of Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2.[12] Left Konami to join Electronic Arts in 2003, subsequently worked at Virtual Heroes, Inc. in 2007, and later joined Nintendo in 2012 as a visual producer.
  • Keiichiro Toyama: Director and background designer of Silent Hill. Left Konami to join Japan Studio (Project Siren) in 1999 and created the Siren series of games.[13] Left Sony in 2020 and founded his own studio, Bokeh Game Studio, where he directed Slitterhead.
  • Masashi Tsuboyama: Background and motion designer of Silent Hill, director and town designer of Silent Hill 2, art director and monster designer of Silent Hill 4: The Room. He later worked at Yuke's and Good-Feel.
  • Akira Yamaoka: Sound director of Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill 4: The Room, producer of Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill 4: The Room. Left Konami in 2009 and joined Grasshopper Manufacture in 2010.[14]
  • Shingo Yuri: Character modeler of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3, character designer of Silent Hill 4: The Room. He later joined Kojima Productions. Died in 2017.

Akira Yamaoka played a major role in the Silent Hill film adaptation by overseeing and approving specific aspects of the movie throughout its production. Some of the original members (as led by Toyama, director of the first Silent Hill game) went on to create the Siren series, which has a similar atmosphere to the Silent Hill franchise.

Legacy

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In 2017, when asked if Team Silent would ever reunite, Yamaoka said he was not against the idea, but also said that "it's hard to say because everyone has evolved, and maybe the mindset has changed as well. Also, the technology and the games industry as a whole has changed as well. Even if we got back together I'm not even sure we could do something great so it's very hard to say at the moment".[15]

References

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  1. ↑ Sato, Takayoshi. "My Resume". SatoWorks. Archived from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  2. ↑ Winston1 (August 10, 2018). "Let's clear this up: Team Silent was making a Silent Hill 5, and it (and they) got canned by Konami". ResetEra. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "Classic Postmortem: Konami's Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004)". www.gamedeveloper.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2026. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  4. ↑ "E3 2001: Silent Hill 2 Interview". IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. May 17, 2001. Archived from the original on April 4, 2002. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  5. ↑ "IGN Top 100 Games 2007: 97 Silent Hill 2". IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. 2007. Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Notification of Business Conducted at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders" (PDF). Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. February 22, 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  7. ↑ Tom Goldman (January 18, 2011). "Silent Hill Artist Claims Konami Disbanded Team Silent | The Escapist". Escapistmagazine.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Q&A: Konami's Akihiro Imamura". GameSpot. May 17, 2006. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  9. ↑ IGN
  10. ↑ "E3 2002: Interview with Hiroyuki Owaku, Akira Yamaoka and Kazuhide Nakazawa (IGN)". Silent Hill Memories. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  11. ↑ Ito, Masahiro (June 14, 2010). "Nobu bbs: scenario writers". GMO Media, Inc. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Silence Is Golden: Takayoshi Sato's Occidental Journey". Gamasutra. August 25, 2005. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Silent Hill creator discusses how he joined the game biz and why AAA horror is 'difficult' to fund". Polygon.com. October 30, 2013. Archived from the original on August 14, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Interview: Akira Yamaoka explains Grasshopper jump". April 2, 2010. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  15. ↑ Donnelly, Joe (August 29, 2017). "Akira Yamaoka would 'love' to see Silent Hill revived, is open to Team Silent reunion". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.

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