Following Keiichiro Toyama's departure from Sony's Japan Studios, (the brand's in-house Japanese division was undergoing consolidation and making HQ more westernbound), the Silent Hill creator formed Bokeh Studios not too long after with fellow producers Kazunobu Sato and Junya Okura. In 2021, a trailer for their newest project, Slitterhead, was revealed that year at The Game Awards.

Who Is Bokeh Studios?

Having previously worked on the cult classic Snatcher (the Sega CD verison), in 1999, Toyama struck gold with his surreal survivor horror game Silent Hill. He wouldn't stick with Team Silent long, joining SIE Japan and lending assistance to software like the Siren series, Ape Escape, and the Gravity Rush games.

His tenure lasted until 2017, reuniting with Sato and Okura, whom he worked on Silent Hill with, to form a new Japan studio Bokeh. On the team's YouTube channel, they document interviews with industry veterans like Resident Evil creator and Hi-Fi Rush director Shinji Mikami in episodes titled The Golden Hour.

Slitterhead Gameplay Alpha

Slitterhead, the team's first project, appears to blend horror elements with fast-paced action. Lately there has been a glut of methodically paced survival horror games, so in my eyes, it's a little refreshing to the genre take a more proactive approach with quicker, more responsive gameplay elements.

Alongside our Golden Hour series, we will be sharing “Dev Diary” videos so that you can follow the development of Slitterhead and listen to our internal team who share their experiences working on the game. Have a look at our new video covering a user test session conducted earlier this year. Please note that all of the in-game content is pre-alpha footage, and not a representation of the final product.

During these user tests, players are brought in to provide early feedback on the elements incorporated in Slitterhead's early build. Bringing in more of that Silent Hill flavor, veteran composer Akira Yamaoka has been brought in to provide the music. Yamaoka always did a fantastic job of producing scores that truly set the tone in the Silent Hill series, with Slitterhead potentially being more fast-paced, I'm anticipating his incorporation into its atmosphere. 

There's no projected release date for Slitterhead as of this writing. We will be sure to keep you posted as progress develops.