A mysterious game, Silent Hill: The Short Message, receives a rating for PS5 in Taiwan without any announcement from developer Konami.
A game titled Silent Hill: The Short Message has been rated in Taiwan, specifying PS5 as a platform. Curious events started in September 2022, and the supposed new entry in the Silent Hill franchise was rated in Korea, without specifics about which platform it would be available on.
The Korean rating attributed the publisher as Uniana, a firm that frequently publishes Konami games in Korea and also produces amusement arcade machines. At the time, the rating seemed to be connected to some leaked images from earlier in the year that sparked Silent Hill rumors. Konami has since announced several Silent Hill projects, none of which bear the title The Short Message.
Projects that were announced included a long awaited remake of Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill: Ascension, Silent Hill: Townfall, and Silent Hill f. The lack of The Short Message seemed as though Konami had perhaps changed the name to one of these titles. However, as first spotted by Gematsu, the Taiwan Digital Game Rating Committee has now rated Silent Hill: The Short Message for PS5, even though the listing has now been taken down. The publisher is noted as being Konami, and it is listed as containing “violence, terror, and inappropriate speech.”
This information answers some questions but raises a few others. Any speculation of Uniana releasing an arcade game with the Silent Hill branding can now be dismissed. Further details pertaining to this mysterious game, such as why it was not announced with the other Silent Hill projects, remain unclear. The secretive nature of The Short Message, however, feels fitting for the deep lore of Silent Hill as a franchise.
It is an exciting time for fans of the psychological horror title, as the Silent Hill IP has been dormant for 10 years, not counting Hideo Kojima’s PT. The playable teaser had been similarly somewhat secretive, and PT still inspires new games today. While previous titles since Silent Hill 4 had somewhat mixed receptions compared to the classic Silent Hill games, the lasting effect of PT shows that there is still great interest in Silent Hill.
Perhaps Konami also learned that the element of mystery is a key factor in the franchise and decided to withhold some projects, such as Silent Hill: The Short Message, from the public as long as possible. With so many Silent Hill-inspired titles, such as the creepy-looking Post Trauma announced at The Game Awards and countless others on Steam and Itch.io, it seems clear that the franchise still holds a lot of weight.
