Silent Hill f team encouraged to read up to 200 books in year during development

Silent Hill f producer Motoi Okamoto has revealed that members of the game's scenario team were encouraged to read between 100 and 200 books a year during development, highlighting the importance Konami places on literary influences for narrative-driven games.

Speaking during a lecture titled "The Art of Producing Silent Hill" at CEDEC 2026, Okamoto and other key developers discussed the creative process behind both the Silent Hill 2 remake and the recently released Silent Hill f.

According to reports from the event, Okamoto said producers working on story-focused games should regularly read books, particularly the works of writers they intend to collaborate with.

He argued that producers should read the majority of a writer's published work before commissioning them to write a game's scenario.

According to Okamoto, this is both a matter of "basic respect" and a way of understanding a writer's strengths, weaknesses and creative style.

Okamoto added that every writer produces both successful and less successful work, making it the responsibility of the project's decision-maker to understand those characteristics and work closely with them.

For Silent Hill f, Konami selected Ryukishi07, best known for the When They Cry visual novel series, to write the game's story.

Okamoto said the decision was influenced by several factors, including the writer's extensive experience with horror, the compatibility of his previous work with the Silent Hill series and Okamoto's own admiration for his writing.

The producer also stressed the importance of continuous learning within the development team.

"Within the team, we put pressure on each other, especially among the scenario writers, to read at least 100 to 200 books a year," Okamoto said.