Team Silent was a development team within

Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casinos ...

(KCET), responsible for the first four games in the '' Silent Hill'' franchise by

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

released from 1999 to 2004. Later titles were developed by non-Japanese companies such as Climax Studios,

Double Helix Games Double Helix Games was an American video game developer based in Irvine, California, founded in October 2007 through the merger of The Collective and Shiny Entertainment, two studios owned by Foundation 9 Entertainment. Double Helix was acquir ...

and

Vatra Games Vatra Games s.r.o was a Czech video game development company based in Brno. Its parent company was Kuju Entertainment Kuju Entertainment Ltd. is a British video game developer. The original company was Simis, formed in 1989 and purchased by ...

. According to composer Akira Yamaoka, Team Silent consisted of staff members that had failed at other projects and originally intended to leave the company before the first ''Silent Hill'' game turned out to be a success. According to a '' Silent Hill: Homecoming'' artist, Team Silent was ultimately disbanded by Konami itself, because Konami wanted Western developers to make the games. KCET was

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

into the

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

in April 2005. Key members of Team Silent include: * Keiichiro Toyama: Director of '' Silent Hill''. Left to join

Japan Studio Japan Studio was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. A first-party studio for Sony Interactive Entertainment (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment), it was best known for the ''Ape Escape'', ''LocoRoco'', '' Patapon'', ''Gravity Ru ...

(

Project Siren Japan Studio was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. A first-party studio for Sony Interactive Entertainment (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment), it was best known for the ''Ape Escape'', ''LocoRoco'', '' Patapon'', ''Gravity ...

) in 1999 and created the ''

Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...

'' series of games. *Masashi Tsuboyama: Background designer of ''Silent Hill'', director of ''

Silent Hill 2 is a 2001 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The game was released from September to November, originally for the PlayStation 2. The second installment in ...

'', art director of '' Silent Hill 4: The Room''. Left Konami to join

Good-Feel is a Japanese video game developer. Good-Feel started in Hyogo, Japan in 2005 and opened a production facility in Tokyo in the same year. Their main focus had been educational games for the Nintendo DS, which were released solely in Japan. Th ...

. *Kazuhide Nakazawa: Director of ''

Silent Hill 3 ''Silent Hill 3'' is a 2003 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The game was released from May to August, originally for the PlayStation 2. The third installmen ...

''. He later joined

Kojima Productions Kojima Productions Co., Ltd. is a Japanese Video game developer, video game development studio founded in 2015 by video game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the ''Metal Gear'' series. It is the spiritual successor to a production team inside K ...

. *Suguru Murakoshi: Drama director of ''Silent Hill 2'', director and scenario writer of ''Silent Hill 4: The Room''. He later joined

. *

Hiroyuki Owaku is a Horror fiction, horror anthology series, anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror, survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, ''Silent Hil ...

: Scenario writer of ''Silent Hill 2'' and ''Silent Hill 3'', co-writer for ''Silent Hill''. * Masahiro Ito: Background and creature designer of ''Silent Hill'', art director and creature designer of ''Silent Hill 2'' and ''Silent Hill 3''. * Akira Yamaoka: Series sound director; producer of ''Silent Hill 3'' and ''Silent Hill 4: The Room''. Left

to join Grasshopper Manufacture. *Gozo Kitao: Executive producer of ''Silent Hill'', ''Silent Hill 2'' and ''Silent Hill 3''. *Akihiro Imamura: Lead programmer of ''Silent Hill'', producer of ''Silent Hill 2'', sub-producer of ''Silent Hill 4: The Room''. *

Takayoshi Sato Takayoshi Sato (Japanese: 佐藤隆善, Hepburn: Satō Takayoshi) is a Japanese video game character designer, writer, and CGI director. Sato is best known as being a member of Team Silent from 1996 to 2003 and was responsible for creating the ...

: CGI Creator of ''Silent Hill'' and ''Silent Hill 2''. Left to join Virtual Heroes, Inc., and later joined

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

in 2012 as a visual producer. 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 ''

'' series, which has a similar atmosphere to the '' Silent Hill'' franchise. 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".

References

{{Use mdy dates, date=October 2012 Konami Silent Hill Japanese companies established in 1996 Japanese companies disestablished in 2005 Video game companies established in 1996 Video game companies disestablished in 2005 Video game development companies Defunct video game companies of Japan