Guillermo del Toro Discusses Silent Hills Production

Within the framework of the International Film Festival of Guadalajara (FICG), the Master Class given by Guillermo del Toro: "From Geometry to the Shape of Water" was held.
On this brief section, he responded to the question of what happened to Silent Hills, the inspiration behind it, Hideo Kojima's ideas and their relation, his involvement during the production and its eventual demise.
He also mentioned Junji Ito's involvement and more Behind The Scenes facts about the now cancelled game.
The Master Class took place on March 12, 2018 at Telmex Auditorium.

[@airixxxx]

I will never understand Japanese's mentality in some ways. Every big studio in the world would do anything to have Kojima, Del Toro and Ito in their game, the prestige it would bring to them (and the money), it's impossible to understand how this got turned down.

[@doctorakiba]

This isn't "Japanese" mentality, its the mentality of Konami's then-new higher up(s) practicing corporate greed -which is actually a far more global kind of thinking.
Now that I've clarified that bit, here's something to help you understand: the rationale of their thinking goes like this: "spend a few hundred million on geniuses like Junji Ito, Hideo Kojima, and G Del Toro, and make a really big profit OR... cancel all of that, spend a couple million on mobile games, and make an even bigger profit."
For us gamers, this is a ridiculously stupid idea that makes no sense.
For the shareholders and investors of Konami, it was the sound of ka-ching (or more like "jyara-jyara"/"gacha-gacha" which is their onomatopoeia for it). Prestige means nothing to these people - because they are neither gamers or developers and as seen in their priorities, they do not care about the industry, the value of art, or anything else. They just want the most efficient cost-to-profit ratio (which is sadly, mobile games).
The sad truth is that mobile games are an absolute pittance to make. For the production cost of Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain, one can afford to make about a dozen or so mobile titles (and I'm being conservative with that estimate). So imagine just making four games for a tiny fraction of that cost. All it takes is just one or two of those mobile games to become hits to generate big income. Lower prod costs means less amounts to recoup, they earn money faster. Mobile games generate a ton of "engagement" and "impressions" (quotations because I'm not using these words in the normal english context, but in the context of product elements/values that investors look into), this is also a form of profit. And lastly, mobile game purchases tend to last for years -the same consumers will keep buying the same in-app purchases (whereas with normal games, once you buy the game, you are not likely to buy it again).
Meanwhile, Kojima, the visionary genius pushing the gaming genre forward. He's got his own mini division (Kojima Productions was a massive wing of Konami then), and places a lot of emphasis on fidelity. The monthly payroll and overhead costs for Kojima Productions would certainly be massive - when you have a studio with the likes of Kojima and Shinkawa... and staff they have certainly assessed for talent and skill. He'll also do extensive research, travel to locations, hire experts, etc --all to provide a gaming experience well worth every single penny a player spends to buy the game -I would even argue that he offers a better value over money ratio. The man is renowned for being not-greedy: his vehement refusal for an MGS related mobile game app was a massive hurdle for Konami, it took them almost forever to make Kojima relent to a Metal Gear game that used a gacha system. Sure, all of us love his games. And his work is certainly making money for Konami -but the rate of his upkeep and the amount he makes is not enough for the greedtards at Konami . Not when they've all seen the revenue figures from mobage (mobile games).
That should probably help you understand why it got "turned down"

[@ZombiiChix]

And now we have Bloober team remaking silent hill 2 🫠

[@Che1seabluesdrogba11]

God, what could have been

[@Nightmarewrath]

While it may not be on the same leagues of the holy trinity of the first 3 Silent Hill games, but it definitely would've brought the series back to its relevance. And Konami, thinks it's a good idea to get mediocre developers like Bloober Team to possibly do a SH2 remake, when it's just gonna be continuing the downhill trend of the series.

[@gjmarkjesse1324]

They're trying to do what Capcom is doing with remaking the Resident Evil games. The problem is, it worked with Resident Evil because the source material is horrible. I loved playing Resident Evil 2 and 3 when I was younger, but growing up, it doesn't hold up and I'm tired of acting like it does.
With Silent Hill 2, it's perfect in every way. The sentiment, plot, everything. Remaking that is like remaking The Deer Hunter or Full Metal Jacket.

[@DeathDrager]

He doesn't know that you can't play PT anymore cause they took it off the stores. Kinda sad.

[@cormanosnake101]

"Pos ahi ta el P.T... pa' que le jueguen" jaajaj, lo amo.

[@sarsmask]

this crowd rocks

[@LisaaP.T.]

:3