Sony and Konami are betting on a short, free-to-play Silent Hill game exclusively for PlayStation 5.

Despite being rumoured for a long time, with several leaked concept images, Silent Hill: The Short Message has not become a reality until now. The PlayStation State of Play surprise was none other than the fact that Silent Hill is coming to consoles for the first time in more than ten years. Plus, it’s free! Yes, you read that right; they don’t charge a single coin for The Short Message. From now on, it can only be played on PS5.

The idea of adapting the Silent Hill license to a narrative concept centred around bullying, grief, and the loss of a close friend seemed very appealing, with all due respect.

However, even though The Short Message was leaked two years ago, we thought it was just a concept in Konami’s mind.

Finally, and to everyone’s surprise, the dream of many is coming true. After all, a work that looks very similar to the cancelled and forever memorable Silent Hills is being made. According to what was said at the event, the seemingly short and to-the-point experience will be a first-person horror adventure. It has survival horror elements and a mobile phone that will serve as a guide and torch during the adventure to avoid scares.

“This game started as something like an experimental project – an opportunity for us to try out different things, see what worked and what didn’t, and grow and polish our horror game expertise,” reads the PlayStation blog.

Also, and as quoted, we’re talking about a game made by people new to Konami. They came up with unusual ideas. But they loved the franchise and wanted to be involved in the development of a horror game in the series.

As mentioned, this is a shadow drop, a surprise release, which is not yet available in the store at the time of writing but hopefully will be available soon after the event.

No information has been revealed regarding the game’s length or the story’s impact on the series as a whole.

However, all signs point to it being a tactile experience, with the unique value of being Konami’s first original console game and hopefully the first of many more to come. In addition, it deals with sensitive topics such as suicide, violence and foul language.

In addition to the new game, another surprise has arrived! The developers have released a short “combat reveal” trailer from Silent Hill 2.

Source: PlayStation Blog, YouTube