Horror fans were certain to get something out of today’s Playstation State of Play given how close we are to Resident Evil: Requiem’s release, but no one expected Silent Hill Townfall to steal the horror show.

Konami wasted no time in following up on the success they had with Silent Hill f, and spin offs are here to stay in this foggy franchise. Here is what the dedicated Transmission livestream told us about Silent Hill Townfall.

Silent Hill Townfall Transmission

Annapurna is co-publishing Townfall with Konami, which is new for the franchise. Screen Burn is the studio developing the game, which was originally announced back in 2022.

This is a studio famous for developing Untold Stories and the fantastic Observation, which they developed under the name “No Code”. They’ve proven they have the chops for crafting narrative-focused experiences in the horror genre, but do they have what it takes to tackle a Silent Hill title?

Silent Hill f was a big departure for the franchise with an entirely new setting and a very different protagonist, and Townfall seems to follow a similar approach.

Townfall takes place in Saint Amelia, not in Silent Hill. Screen Burn want to bring their own DNA to the franchise, giving us a Silent Hill game via the “Screen Burn lens”, according to Writer and Director Jon McKellan.

Who Are Screen Burn?

Still under the name “No Code”, the studio developed three titles:

• Super Arc Light- 2016
• Stories Untold- 2017
• Observation- 2019

They’re huge fans of the Silent Hill fans, so when they got the call from Annapurna to work on the franchise after the success of Observation, they immediately started working on a pitch. So they’ve likely been working on Townfall for six years.

The two heads at the top of Screen Burn are the McKellan brothers, Jon and Graeme, who is the Lead Game Designer. They both decided very early on that Silent Hill Townfall would be a first person take on the franchise.

(…) in horror, what happens off-screen is sometimes more scary than what happens right in front of you.

Screen Burn want to use this more claustrophobic perspective to bring their own brand of horror to the franchise.

CRTV: Townfall’s hook

First-person narrative horror games are a dime-a-dozen, so what exactly makes Silent Hill Townfall stand out? Following in their roots from previous games, Screen Burn look again to real life retro technology.

Observation is a horror narrative experience entirely seen through multiple cameras spread throughout a space station. Stories Untold unfolds in front of multiple retro gadgets like gadgets and CRTs.

In Silent Hill Townfall, Simon, the protagonist, wields a “CRTV”, a take on a mixture between a radio and a portable TV. It is the game’s most unique mechanism, allowing players to see enemies through walls and to be directly involved in how the story is told.

Saint Amelia, A Scottish-Inspired Foggy Fishing Town

While Screen Burn didn’t start off thinking they would locate Silent Hill Townfall in their home country of Scotland, Paul Abbott, the Art Director, couldn’t help but reminisce when he first looked at the game:

I’ve grown up (…) in a small fishing town that’s kind of similar to St. Amelia.

The characteristic Silent Hill fog isn’t just here because of the franchise, it is distinct detail of Scottish fishing towns.

Exploring this foggy town in first person is sure to be terrifying, and this perspective was at the core of Townfall’s development. This is the first full length Silent Hill game that is entirely set in first person (remember The Short Message?), a big departure for the series.

But Screen Burn want Townfall to feel like Silent Hill, so most of the elements you’re familiar with are still here. It isn’t clear what’s real and isn’t, but Simon is threatened by enemies hiding in the fog.

He has access to the usual Silent Hill tools like makeshift melee weapons and a couple of guns, but Townfall also wants players to interact with the deep stealth system.

Players can peak around corners and use the CRTV to see through both walls and the thick fog, allowing them to circumvent enemies and sneak past them, avoid combat entirely.

Who Is Simon?

Mystery and guilt. These are two themes at the heart of Silent Hill as a franchise, and the main focuses in Screen Burn’s storytelling with Townfall.

Simon Ordell is familiar with St. Amelia, has some sort of connection to the multiple characters that will show up in the game, and he is at the center of the narrative.

Townfall wouldn’t remain mysterious if Silent Hill Transmission told us all its secrets, so that’s all you’ll know about Simon, for now. Uncovering his story and his connection to both the town and its inhabitants will be a key point in the game.

Hunting The Haar

What’s better than imagining what you want your Silent Hill fog to look like? Seeing it with your own eyes, of course.

I could go to a town that looks like St. Amelia and find a fog that looks like Silent Hill.

Jon McKellan didn’t need to imagine the fog, he just chased the Haar, the thick fog that rolls in on the East coast of Scotland. Screen Burn went around the country visiting piers and fishing towns. Taking pictures of people holding flashlights in the fog. This is likely what has given Townfall such a distinctly realistic look.

This realism is taken to another level through the unmatched immersion brought on by the first person perspective and by the fact that the studio is determined to keep HUD elements to an absolute minimum in Silent Hill Townfall.

An Ambitious Project

Silent Hill Townfall isn’t a main game in the series, but that doesn’t make it a small project. Silent Hill f showed us the potential that these spin offs can have, and Screen Burn are aiming for similar heights, despite their relatively small studio with around 30 employees.

Annapurna’s Head of Games Leanne Loombe highlighted the fact that they’ve had a lot of time to work on Townfall, which, according to Hector Sanchez, President of Interactive and New Media at Annapurna, “is among some of the biggest games that we’ve ever published.”

We hope Screen Burn don’t get lost in the fog and manage to stick the landing with what is, by far, their most ambitious project yet.

Silent Hill Townfall is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox consoles sometime during 2026.