Silent Hill is a beloved name among fans, especially the early entries developed by Team Silent. However, many did not appreciate the Western turn the series took later on, attacking not just the games themselves, but their creators, particularly those not part of the Japanese teams.
In a recent interview on Simon Parkin’s My Perfect Console podcast, former producer Tomm Hulett, who worked on Silent Hill: Origins, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Silent Hill: Book of Memories, and Silent Hill: Downpour, shared the more negative experiences. He focused on the toxic behavior from many fans towards the later titles.
For Hulett, the criticism came simply because the games were more Western; fans were skeptical about the new direction the series was taking after 2004’s The Room, which was the last installment developed by Team Silent.
Though he described his time working on Silent Hill as “exciting,” he admitted that the weight of such negative responses had a significant emotional impact on him. He mentioned a particular online documentary that “made a lot of false claims and a lot of assumptions, and that came out while I was in the Czech Republic with the developer.” Hulett added that, from then on, it became a “depressing trip.”
For @myperfectconsole.bsky.social I spoke to Tomm Hulett, a game designer and director who became the target of a harassment campaign initiated by some fans of the Silent Hill series. His wife, who worked on Konami’s support desk at the time, found herself fielding threats against her husband.
— Simon Parkin (@simonparkin.bsky.social) 2025-05-20T11:29:11.025Z
While he did not reveal who created the documentary, it gained significant attention, especially as it mentioned both Hulett and Sam Barlow, the lead designer on Origins and Shattered Memories. The mentions led to ongoing online harassment towards both.
The situation worsened when Hulett recalled that “Konami also received death threats.” He went on to explain that his wife, who was the head of customer service at the time, became the main point of contact for support related to Shattered Memories. As a result, she also became the target of threats.
This affected her so much that she did not attend the red carpet event for the 2012 film Silent Hill: Revelation, as she did not want to be photographed with her husband and risk being recognized.
Another difficult moment came with the release of Silent Hill: HD Collection in 2012, which is considered a disappointment due to technical issues. Hulett faced further problems, as he tried to explain himself on the NeoGAF forum, but only received additional insults and accusations of intentionally sabotaging the series.
At the time, his wife had undergone a surgery, and he had to take time off to support her just before the collection’s launch. While he pointed out the issues and suggested improvements, the collection – which was a remaster of SH2 and SH3 – was released as is, leading to more stress.
Hulett concluded by saying that, while he is grateful for the experience he had working on Silent Hill, the major companies in the industry often fail to understand the impact such a backlash can have on producers. As a result, this can leave them exposed to public anger, with little room to defend themselves.
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