Silent Hill Creator Starts Work on a New Major Game — and It Won’t Be a Slitterhead Sequel

Keiichiro Toyama, founder of Bokeh Game Studio and the creator of Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush, revealed that the studio has begun development of a new ambitious title. The team has opened recruitment for several positions, including artists, programmers, game designers, and marketing specialists.

In an open letter on a Japanese recruitment site, Toyama described the current stage of development without embellishment: the game is still in its earliest phase, and many ideas will likely be discarded along the way. But he sees that process as essential.

Toyama also hinted that Slitterhead served as a kind of “starting line” for the studio — the first step that helped Bokeh Game Studio establish itself. Now the team is ready to move toward something more ambitious.

Judging by his comments, the new project will not be a sequel to Slitterhead — the studio intends to explore a completely new direction.

It’s worth noting that Slitterhead launched in November 2024 and received mixed reviews from critics. The game was praised for its unusual body-swapping mechanic and atmosphere, but criticized for its lack of polish and repetitive missions. Nevertheless, the studio found its audience and continues to grow.

Toyama remains one of the few Japanese developers consistently creating original projects outside traditional genre boundaries. If you’re interested in Japanese game development more broadly, we also have a list of the best JRPGs — featuring titles that can serve as a great entry point into the genre.

Have you played Slitterhead or other Toyama games? What do you think of them? Share your thoughts in the comments.