Konami Let Silent Hill Domain Lapse, Bought By Pyramid Head Prankster [UPDATED]

UPDATE 3/1: This article has been updated to show that the page owner has actually owned the page for over a year and recently changed the front page.

Because IP holder Konami let the domain name lapse, Silent Hill‘s website was purchased by someone who left behind a Pyramid Head prank. Despite ongoing rumors of a supposed Silent Hill revival, the seminal horror series continues to lie in dormancy. The last installment launched nearly a decade ago in October 2012 with the release of the critically panned Silent Hill: Book of Memories on PS Vita.

Metal Gear Solid Creator Hideo Kojima attempted to revive the brand in 2014 by unleashing P.T. on PS4. However, Konami never gave Kojima’s unique vision a chance to exist beyond the playable teaser. Series faithful still hold out hope, though, patiently awaiting news of remake à la Resident Evil 2 Remake or a full-blown franchise reboot. Yet, apart from the occasional rumor, there presently exists nothing to suggest that such endeavors are even on Konami’s radar. This is despite the fact that Konami launched Silent Hill-branded merchandise last summer, a move that seemed to hint at bigger implications for the IP’s future. But if the publisher does have something special up its sleeve, it’s doing a fairly poor job of telegraphing as much.

Recently, NeoGaf user adamsapple (via GamingBolt) noticed a change on the official Silenthill.com web domain. The page now links to a screenshot of Silent Hill artist Masahiro Ito telling Twitter followers he regrets designing Pyramid Head. This odd set of circumstances suggests franchise publisher Konami failed to renew its Silent Hill domain, making room for a prankster to pick up the slack and have a bit of fun in the process. It is worth noting, however, that another Twitter user – Ohmygodiamonfire – used the Wayback Machine and found that whoever owns the page gained access to it over a year ago and only recently altered the frontpage image to include Ito’s tweet.

Some fans will undoubtedly view the lapsed website domain as further proof that Konami’s interest in reviving Silent Hill continues to wane. As is often the case, though, domain names, trademarks, and the like only mean so much in the grand scheme of things. How many times did Take-Two Interactive renew Rockstar Games’ Agent trademark before finally moving on? Hopefully, Silent Hill will one day rise again.

It’s a shame that Silent Hill remains on the sidelines, especially given the horror renaissance that’s taken over multiple industries of entertainment. In the last four years alone, the likes of Halloween, Scream, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre have been resurrected. Similarly, horror gaming is arguably at its best right now, with Resident Evil once more at the top of its game thanks to Resident Evil 7, the remake entries, and the incredibly successful Resident Evil: Village. With Dead Space primed to return as well, now seems as good of a time as any for Konami to breathe new life into Silent Hill.