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. KCET was merged into the parent company on April 1, 2005. Konami Digital Entertainment (KDE) was established by the parent company on March 31, 2006.
History According to Kenzie LaMar, lead character artist of Silent Hill: Homecoming, Team Silent was ultimately disbanded by Konami itself, because they wanted other developers to make the games and wanted the games to be different. Later titles were developed by Western companies, such as Climax Studios, Double Helix Games and Vatra Games.
Members Key members of Team Silent include (arranged by last name): Norihito Hatakeda: Graphic engine programmer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. He joined Kojima Productions in 2006. Akihiro Imamura: Game system programmer of Silent Hill, producer of Silent Hill 2, 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.IGN Left Konami in March 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. Hiroyuki Owaku: Enemy and event programmer of Silent Hill, scenario writer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. Takayoshi Sato: Character designer and CGI creator of Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2. Left Konami to join Electronic Arts in February 2003, subsequently joined Virtual Heroes, Inc. in June 2007, and later joined Nintendo in February 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. Left Sony in September 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 on December 1, 2009 and joined Grasshopper Manufacture on February 3, 2010. Shingo Yuri: Character modeler of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3, character designer of Silent Hill 4: The Room. He joined Kojima Productions in 2006. 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 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".
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