Silent Hill Townfall Debuts Gameplay as KONAMI Confirms a First Person Horror Story Set in Scotland
KONAMI and Annapurna Interactive have finally unveiled the first gameplay trailer for Silent Hill Townfall, delivering the first concrete look at the psychological horror spin off since its initial announcement in 2022. The reveal landed during the February 2026 State of Play broadcast, then expanded with a deeper breakdown during the follow up Silent Hill Transmission, where the development team also confirmed a major identity shift: No Code has rebranded to Screen Burn, positioning Townfall as the studio’s next big statement project.
The most important creative pivot is perspective. Silent Hill Townfall is a full length, self contained adventure played entirely in first person, a notable departure from the more familiar third person framing most players associate with the franchise. Screen Burn says that perspective is not a cosmetic change, it is a fundamental design choice that reshapes tension by limiting what you can see, forcing dread to live in the space outside your view. The team specifically emphasizes that what happens beyond the frame can be more frightening than what is directly in front of you, and the gameplay footage leans into that philosophy with tight spaces, heavy atmosphere, and careful movement.
Combat is present and recognizable, with tools like planks of wood, pipes, and firearms, but Screen Burn is also building Townfall around meaningful player choice between confrontation and evasion. One of the most practical mechanics shown is a peeking system, letting protagonist Simon Ordell lean around corners and over cover to assess threats before committing. It is a smart fit for a first person horror title because it formalizes caution as gameplay, turning hesitation into a skill rather than a weakness.
The studio’s signature identity also returns through what looks like Townfall’s defining gadget, the CRTV, a handheld pocket television that reimagines Silent Hill’s iconic radio into something more tactile. Instead of passively listening for static, players physically raise the device and manually tune through frequencies to uncover narrative signals and detect enemy positions. That analog interaction is clearly a core pillar of the experience, designed to keep the player engaged with the tool rather than treating it as background UI.
Narratively, Townfall centers on Simon Ordell returning to the island town of St Amelia after a mysterious phone call asks him to come back and put things to rest. Screen Burn frames Simon as layered and uncertain, with guilt positioned as the central theme that drives the horror and the mystery. The story structure is intentionally gradual, with discoveries that sometimes resolve and sometimes deepen, encouraging players to investigate every corner of the town and pay attention to the human connections that shape the bigger picture.
The setting shift is just as striking as the camera shift. Townfall is set in cold Scotland, with St Amelia inspired by real east coast fishing villages, including St Monans. Screen Burn says it did extensive location scouting to capture more than visuals, focusing on the feeling of these coastal settlements, including their sound and weather. A key atmospheric reference is the Haar, the dense fog that rolls along Scotland’s east coast, which the team treats as a natural thematic match for Silent Hill’s legacy of fog as mystery and menace.
Despite Screen Burn being a relatively small team of around 30 developers, Annapurna Interactive is positioning Townfall as one of the biggest games it has published yet. The game is in development for PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), with store listings indicating a 2026 release window, while the press materials keep the date listed as to be announced.
Do you want Silent Hill Townfall to lean harder into first person survival horror combat, or would you rather it prioritize evasion and psychological tension with minimal fighting?
