Company:Team Silent

Team Silent

Type	Division
Industry	Video games
Fate	Disbanded by Konami
Founded	1996 (1996)
Defunct	2007 (2007)
Headquarters	Tokyo , Japan
Key people	Hiroyuki Owaku (writer) Akira Yamaoka (sound director) Masahiro Ito (art director)
Products	Silent Hill
Parent	Konami

Team Silent was a Japanese development team within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET), responsible for the first four games in the Silent Hill franchise by Konami released from 1999 to 2004. Later titles were developed by non-Japanese companies such as Climax Studios, Double Helix Games and Vatra Games. According to a Software:Silent Hill: Homecoming artist, Team Silent was ultimately disbanded by Konami itself, because Konami wanted Western developers to make the games. KCET was merged into the parent company in April 2005.

Key members of Team Silent include (arranged by last name):

• Norihito Hatakeda: Graphic engine programmer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. He later joined Kojima Productions.
• Akihiro Imamura: Game system programmer of Silent Hill, producer of Silent Hill 2, sub-producer of Silent Hill 4: The Room.
• Masahiro Ito: Background and monster designer of Silent Hill, art director and monster designer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3.
• Gozo Kitao: Producer of Silent Hill, executive producer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3.
• Suguru Murakoshi: Drama director and animator of Silent Hill 2, director and scenario writer of Silent Hill 4: The Room. He later worked at Kojima Productions and Tango Gameworks.
• Kazuhide Nakazawa: Character animator of Silent Hill 2, director and monster designer of Silent Hill 3.
• Hiroyuki Owaku: Enemy and event programmer of Silent Hill, scenario writer of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3.
• Takayoshi Sato: Character designer and CGI creator of Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2. Left Konami to join Electronic Arts in 2003, subsequently worked at Virtual Heroes, Inc. in 2007, and later joined Nintendo in 2012 as a visual producer.
• Keiichiro Toyama: Director and background designer of Silent Hill. Left Konami to join Japan Studio (Project Siren) in 1999 and created the Siren series of games. Left Sony in 2020 and founded his own studio, Bokeh Game Studio, where he directed Slitterhead.
• Masashi Tsuboyama: Background and motion designer of Silent Hill, director and town designer of Silent Hill 2, art director and monster designer of Software:Silent Hill 4: The Room. He later worked at Yuke's and Good-Feel.
• Akira Yamaoka: Series sound director; producer of Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill 4: The Room. Left Konami in 2009 and joined Grasshopper Manufacture in 2010.
• Shingo Yuri: Character modeler of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3, character designer of Silent Hill 4: The Room. He later joined Kojima Productions.

Akira Yamaoka played a major role in the Silent Hill film adaptation by overseeing and approving specific aspects of the movie throughout its production. Some of the original members (as led by Toyama, director of the first Silent Hill game) went on to create the Siren series, which has a similar atmosphere to the Silent Hill franchise.

In 2017, when asked if Team Silent would ever reunite, Yamaoka said he was not against the idea, but also said that "it's hard to say because everyone has evolved, and maybe the mindset has changed as well. Also, the technology and the games industry as a whole has changed as well. Even if we got back together I'm not even sure we could do something great so it's very hard to say at the moment".