Konami announced over the weekend that Silent Hill: The Short Message has exceeded 4 million downloads. This is a major milestone considering the fact that the survival horror title launched as a PS5 exclusive.
“Silent Hill: The Short Message has reached over 4M downloads,” read the message shared by the developer on X. “Thank you for your continuous support.” The message added, “Silent Hill: The Short Message is available for free on PlayStation 5”.
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The January 2024 release deviates from other entries in the franchise in almost every key aspect. Firstly, the setting was moved to a fictional town in Germany as opposed to the United States.
Also, the installment introduced new gameplay mechanics, including favoring first-person gameplay over the traditional third-person POV that fans of the franchise have become used to. Perhaps, these bold changes are part of the reason the game launched to a mixed reception.
For example, the review by Game World Navigator Magazine read, “It’s a bit weird that a game called ‘Silent Hill’ doesn’t feature the eponymous town”. Meristation said in their review that, “[Silent Hill] is not scary, it lacks interesting puzzles and it has one of the most ridiculous chases ever”.
On Metacritic, it bagged an average score of 53. However, one area that most of the reviewers agreed on is that the game is worth the free price point. Konami can celebrate the 4 million downloads, considering the mixed reviews. However, it is strongly debatable that the game would have attracted 4 million players if there had been a price tag on it.
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If Konami released The Short Message as an experiment, there would be no doubt lots of data for them to analyze and ensure the issues raised don’t show up in the next major franchise dubbed Silent Hill f.
Silent Hill f’s setting is also moving away from the titular town and would be set in Japan. Regardless of the reviews, the new download milestone should inspire some confidence in the team working on the next major installment. Whether The Short Message has made fans accept changes to setting and core gameplay in the series will be tested when the next major installment launches.
