In its announcement, the studio has revealed that its original No Code name made more sense back in 2015 when it was founded back when its development team didn’t actually have any coders. Since then, however, the studio has grown quite a bit, with several members of the team being programmers.

The studio also points out that, in the modern day, the term “No Code” has become a generic term for app development and training courses that make as little use of programming as possible. “Our inbox is a mess,” wrote the studio.

As for the decision to go with Screen Burn as its new name, the studio explained that the inspiration struck when it came to the atmosphere and vibes that its games typically go for. “We’re analogue TV’s. 3.5” disk drives. Nostalgic and imperfect,” explains the studio.

“We make games that stick with you, long after the credits roll. Games that persist. Like an old arcade machine, with the UI burned into the display forever.”

As for what this might mean for the development of Silent Hill: Townfall, the studio has mentioned it being one of the projects that it is still working on. However, no new details about the upcoming horror title have been revealed.

Back in December 2024, Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto had said that Konami will be revealing more details about Silent Hill: Townfall some time this year.

“In 2024, we successfully released Silent Hill 2 to high praise from fans. What remains now are the already announced titles Silent Hill f and Silent Hill: Townfall,” Okamoto said in an interview. “We’re working hard on both titles to meet fans’ expectations. We’ll do our best to be able to deliver new updates.”

While Konami as well as Screen Burn Interactive have been quiet about Silent Hill: Townfall, we do know that the title is being developed using Unreal Engine 5. Rumours from all the way back in 2022 also indicate that Townfall will be a part of an anthology series, where other games will be made by different indie studios.

In the meantime, Silent Hill f will be the next mainline game in the classic horror franchise. It is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on September 25.

Speaking with 4Gamer about his ambitions for 2025, series producer Motoi Okamoto stated that following the launch of Silent Hill 2, Konami and its development partners are continuing to work hard on the aforementioned titles, and will also “do our best” to reveal new information on both games.

“In 2024, we successfully released Silent Hill 2 to high praise from fans. What remains now are the already announced titles Silent Hill f and Silent Hill: Townfall,” Okamoto said (translation via Gematsu). “We’re working hard on both titles to meet fans’ expectations. We’ll do our best to be able to deliver new updates.”

Silent Hill f is being developed in collaboration with NeoBards Entertainment, and is set in 1960s rural Japan, rather than in the titular town of Silent Hill. Silent Hill: Townfall, meanwhile, is being developed by Observation studio No Code on Unreal Engine 5, and as per rumours, is the first instalment in a planned anthology series. Read more on that through here.

In an update on Twitter, Annapurna apologized for concerns around the title. The publisher, Konami and No Code will continue co-developing it, but there are still no details on its release date or gameplay. Whether the upheaval at Annapurna has resulted in any internal delays is also unknown.

Silent Hill: Townfall is intriguing because it’s allegedly the first part of an anthology series. Insider AestheticGamer reported that similar titles are in the works involving other indie studios worldwide. Of course, those plans have yet to be officially announced.

In the meantime, Silent Hill fans can look forward to the launch of Silent Hill 2 remake on October 8th for PS5 and PC. Check out the first hour of gameplay and a preview of the soundtrack.

We deeply apologize for any concerns about SILENT HILL: Townfall. SILENT HILL: Townfall will continue to be co-developed by KONAMI @Konami, Annapurna Interactive @A_i, and No Code @_NoCode. pic.twitter.com/Wd4m4OsauS

— Annapurna Interactive (@A_i) October 1, 2024

On the bright side, series producer Motoi Okamoto reiterated on the PlayStation Blog that they are also “currently in development.” “We will follow up on these games when the time comes, so please look forward to more.”

Silent Hill: Townfall is developed by No Code (Observation, Stories Untold) and Annapurna Interactive, with multiple job listings indicating its use of Unreal Engine 5. Though only rumored, the title will serve as the first chapter in an anthology series. Other indie studios are reportedly working on further titles.

Silent Hill f is the next mainline title in the franchise, developed by NeoBards Entertainment and written by Ryukishi07 (Umineko, Higurashi When They Cry). Aside from its setting in rural Japan, other details have yet to be revealed. Platforms for both games also haven’t been announced. As always, stay tuned for further updates in the future.

This is according to Wario 64 on Twitter, who also noted that the premier is set to 3:50 PM PT (the showcase starts at 4 PM PT). Those ten minutes may be a countdown, but Konami could drop some new details, perhaps for the merch, during that time.

If the Transmission showcase is truly that long, then perhaps Silent Hill 2 could receive more details, including a gameplay deep dive (perhaps following its rumored appearance at State of Play). We may also learn more about Silent Hill f, the next mainline title in the franchise from NeoBards Entertainment. Unlike other titles in the franchise, it’s set in rural Japan during the 1960s and written by Ryukishi07 of Higurashi When They Cry and Umineko fame.

There are next to no details for the same, so perhaps we’ll finally learn more. Konami could also reveal some new projects, with insider Dusk Golem claiming last year the publisher had “at least” three more unannounced titles in development. Stay tuned later today to find out.

Silent Hill Transmission runtime is 42 minutes, 38 seconds. Premieres tomorrow (May 30th) at 4 PM PT https://t.co/l47fxWjH1p

Covers “game updates, a deeper look at the film, and new merch” pic.twitter.com/QsAAwyseuR

— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 30, 2024

YouTube premiere is set at 3:50 PM PT, so 10 of those minutes might be a countdown https://t.co/HtxMwHmWlS

— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 30, 2024

Konami has announced a new Silent Hill Transmission showcase for May 30, which is this Thursday, at 4 PM Pacific. The company says the event will bring “game updates, a deeper look at the film, and new merch.”

Bloober Team and Konami’s Silent Hill 2 remake will, of course, be the game that most will have their eye on. Though the survival horror title doesn’t have a release date, PlayStation said earlier in the year that the game would launch in 2024. Bloober Team recently suggested the game’s release date would be announced soon.

Then there’s Silent Hill: Townfall, which is being developed by No Code of Observation fame and published by Annapurna Interactive. Finally, there’s also Silent Hill f, which is the next mainline instalment in the franchise.

Whether Konami intends to talk about any games beyond those three remains to be seen. Leaks have claimed that the company has several more unannounced Silent Hill titles in development, while Konami itself has suggested the same as well. Other remakes might also be in the works.

Consider this your invitation letter to Silent Hill. ✉️

Tune in May 30 at 4 p.m. PDT to our SILENT HILL YouTube channel for the second installment of the #SILENTHILL Transmission where we’ll share game updates, a deeper look at the film, and new merch.#SILENTHILL pic.twitter.com/5RHc2nGUWB

— Konami (@Konami) May 27, 2024

Recently, prominent insider Dusk Golem claimed that new trailers for two of the games – Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 Remake and No Code and Annapurna Interactive’s Silent Hill: Townfall – would be arriving as soon as before the end of this month, and the leaker has now taken to Twitter with a cryptic tease that seems to follow up on that.

Saying “that hill sure is pretty silent right now”, the tease, which was published earlier in the day, begins with a pretty obvious reference to Konami’s survival horror series, before going on to suggest that new updates on the franchise will be arriving in less than half a day’s time.

As mentioned, the leaker previously claimed that new trailers would be unveiled for Silent Hill 2 Remake and Silent Hill: Townfall– series fans will be hoping that in addition to showing gameplay footage for both, Konami also announces release dates or windows, and confirms which platforms the latter in particular will be launching for.

It remains to be seen how long it’ll be before Konami provides an update on the next mainline game in the series, Silent Hill f, or announces other Silent Hill titles, such as the frequently-leaked Silent Hill: The Short Message, or the other unannounced games that are rumoured to be in development.

Man that hill sure is pretty silent right now, huh? Be a shame if we weren't to climb it from dusk to dawn to get a better view! And while that hike might take us a few hours, it'd probably be less than half a day's walk by foot.

— AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem (@AestheticGamer1) May 30, 2023

According to prominent leaker Dusk Golem (aka AestheticGamer), who was recently speaking about Silent Hill on Discord (via Reddit), Konami is set to reveal new trailers for Bloober Team’s remake of Silent Hill 2, No Code and Annapurna Interactive’s Silent Hill: Townfall, and the real-time streaming project Silent Hill: Ascension.

According to the insider, trailers for these games will be arriving “really soon”, and could arrive as early as before Summer Game Fest (which is set for June 8), or maybe even before the end of this month.

If trailers do arrive, it should be interesting to see whether Konami chooses to reveal a release date for the Silent Hill 2 remake, which has apparently been in the final stages of development for a while. Fans of the series will also be curious to see gameplay footage for Silent Hill: Townfall.

Alongside the three aforementioned projects, last year, Konami also announced Silent Hill f, the series’ next mainline game, which is being developed in collaboration with NeoBards Entertainment. It remains to be seen how long it’ll be before we learn more about that.

How did all of this come about, though? Speaking to IGN Japan, series producer Motoi Okamoto said, “The Silent Hill series had been dormant for quite a while. Konami, as a company, wanted to bring it back, and lots of people working here wanted to make Silent Hill games. The only thing was that everyone had different ideas of what Silent Hill is and why they loved it, making it difficult to coalesce around a single direction.

“I joined Konami during this time and was asked if I could make something work. I agreed to bring everything together and took charge of the project, eventually getting everyone to go in the same direction.

As for the decision to remake Silent Hill 2 instead of the first game, Okamoto added, “During that period of dormancy, though, lots of indie horror games had come out, some of which were influenced by Silent Hill. If we wanted to revive Silent Hill in that environment, we needed to firmly redefine its identity as a brand, sharpening it and differentiating it so that it stood out.

“When we thought about what Silent Hill’s identity is, we concluded that it’s the true psychological horror of the series. And when you ask people what true psychological horror is, just about everyone will tell you Silent Hill 2.

“We decided that if the brand’s identity is true psychological horror, we needed to start by remaking Silent Hill 2. There were, of course, some people inside the company who thought it would be better to start with 1, but I wanted to start this project with something that symbolizes this identity.”

Okamoto also discussed the decision to work with multiple external developers, primarily indie studios. “There’s only so much we can do ourselves, which means we need to work with lots of different indie creators if we want to make lots of different Silent Hills. That’s why we made moves to work together with people around the world who want to make Silent Hill games and approached Bloober Team, as well as Annapurna Interactive and No Code.

“Unfortunately, there are some projects that never actually got off the ground. Still, I think the number of projects we have will only continue to grow. The fact we were reviving Silent Hill was a secret until now, so we couldn’t exactly go out and yell, ‘Hey, everyone! Bring us your Silent Hill projects!’ We can do that now, so if creators from around the world who love Silent Hill bring us their pitches, I promise to look through every one of them. We’re all ears.”

This is in line with Okamoto’s statements last year about creating new games in the series and taking it to new heights. Konami even called for “high-end game creators,” to work on projects like Silent Hill with rumors claiming three unannounced projects in the works (not including Silent Hill: The Short Message). Of course, this could also apply to the rumored Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania revivals that are supposedly in the works, including the oft-rumored Metal Gear Solid 3 remake from Virtuos.

Stay tuned for more details on upcoming Silent Hill projects, and check out our interview with Bloober Team about Silent Hill 2’s remake here.

As spotted by The Game Spoof, it looks like Silent Hill: Townfall is being developed using Unreal Engine 5, same as the Silent Hill 2 remake. That’s as per multiple job ads put up by developer No Code, including for positions like Senior Engine Programmer, Cinematic Animator, and Gameplay Animator, all of which mention Unreal Engine 5. No Code has used the Unity engine for both of its previous titles, Stories Untold and Observation, so the switch in engines is certainly notable.

As per reports, Silent Hill: Townfall is going to be the first instalment in a new anthology series, with multiple other titles allegedly being developed by indie studios around the world.

As for Townfall itself, there’s no word on what platforms it’s being developed for or when it will be released. The aforementioned listings do mention PC and current-gen consoles, but with Silent Hill 2 being developed as a PS5 launch console exclusive, it remains to be seen whether other games in the franchise will follow suit.