Keiichiro Toyama, the creator of the Silent Hill series, made a prototype for an “AAA Siren successor” while working at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE). This prototype became the basis for his new indie studio’s body-hopping, brain-sucking horror action game, Slitterhead. In a recent interview, Toyama revealed that Slitterhead was born out of the idea of making Siren 3.
The Siren series had seen a revival in popularity during his time at SIE, prompting discussions about creating a successor. Toyama conceptualized a big-budget game with a “Siren-like concept,” which led to the prototype for Slitterhead. However, Toyama noted the challenges between the horror genre and AAA game development, leading him to take a unique approach.
He envisioned setting his Siren successor in an open-world 90s Hong Kong, aiming to captivate players with an immersive environment.
Toyama’s transition to indie horror
Circumstances led Toyama to leave SIE and go indie, causing a significant shift in his project’s scope.
Despite the reduced budget, Toyama and his newly formed Bokeh Game Studio decided to develop Slitterhead, transforming the prototype into a gritty indie game. Slitterhead features a formless spiritual lifeform navigating neon-lit environments, blending horror and action with an emphasis on speed and fluidity, as players battle parasitic monsters. No longer constrained by SIE, Toyama developed Slitterhead with a high age rating, allowing more creative freedom.
“This would have been difficult to achieve during my time at SIE, so this time, I thought I’d take on a daring challenge,” Toyama stated. Slitterhead was released worldwide on November 8 for PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PS4/PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. It marks the first major project of Toyama since his departure from Sony’s Japan Studio in 2020.
