Silent Hill is a survival horror game for the PlayStation, developed by Team Silent, a group inside Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. It was directed and written by Keiichiro Toyama, and Akira Yamaoka composed the music while also handling sound effects and audio mastering. Development began in September 1996 with a team of about 15 people, and Konami wanted a game that would succeed in the United States.
The game came out in North America on 23 February 1999, before Japan on 4 March 1999. The European release followed in July 1999 with a language option for English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. The regional versions also differ in content: the child-like Grey Children enemies appear only in the North American version. The game has five different endings.
The European PlayStation Network release of March 2009 was pulled after two days and only returned in October 2011. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (2009) reimagined the first game for Wii, PS2 and PSP, and a separate remake by Bloober Team was announced in June 2025. In June 2026 a fan decompilation project produced a native PC port of the PS1 game.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Silent HillSerial per TCRF/RGdb; a 1.1 revision of the US release exists. | PlayStation | Feb 23, 1999 | KonamiSLUS-00707 | 1 |
| NA | Silent HillPS one Classic on PlayStation Network (PS3/PSP). | PlayStation 3 | Sep 10, 2009 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | サイレントヒルSairento Hiru | PlayStation | Mar 4, 1999 | Konami | 2 |
| EU | Silent HillSerial per RGdb; multilingual (EN/DE/FR/ES/IT). | PlayStation | Jul 16, 1999 | KonamiSLES-01514 | 1 |
| JP | サイレントヒルBudget re-release (a second budget edition followed in 2002). | PlayStation | 2000 | Konami | 2 |
| JP | サイレントヒルBudget re-release. | PlayStation | 2002 | Konami | 2 |
| EU | Silent HillPS one Classic on PlayStation Network (PS3/PSP); withdrawn two days later 'due to unforeseen circumstances'. | PlayStation 3 | Mar 19, 2009 | Konami | 1 |
| EU | Silent HillPS one Classic re-released on the European PlayStation Network. | PlayStation 3 | Oct 26, 2011 | Konami | 1 |
Also known as: サイレントヒル JP2Sairento Hiru JP2
Box art by region
NA Silent Hill 
EU Silent Hill 
JP サイレントヒル
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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CensorshipPS1 (EU)PS1 (JP)
The child-like Grey Children enemies appear only in the North American version; the Japanese and European versions replace them with Mumblers, reportedly because they looked too much like real children.3
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TitlePS1 (JP)PS1 (NA)PS1 (EU)
The Japanese title screen has yellowish letters with splatter graphics, which were removed abroad, and only the US version shows a silhouette on the drawbridge behind the logo.3
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TextPS1 (EU)
The European release adds a language option with English, German, French, Spanish and Italian text.3
Translations
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German Official
Konami1999PlayStation · European releaseReleased · complete
The European PlayStation release includes German text.3
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Spanish Official
Konami1999PlayStation · European releaseReleased · complete
The European PlayStation release includes Spanish text.3
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French Official
Konami1999PlayStation · European releaseReleased · complete
The European PlayStation release includes French text.3
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Italian Official
Konami1999PlayStation · European releaseReleased · complete
The European PlayStation release includes Italian text.3
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Russian Fan
Consolgames2011PlayStation · SLES-01514 (EU)Released
Consolgames made a fan translation of the text and subtitles based on the European version; version 1.1 (2011) also restores content cut from the European edition, such as the knife-wielding child enemies. RGdb rates it as the best Russian version.4
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Russian Fan
ViT Co., MetallistPlayStation · SLUS-00707 (US)Released
ViT Co. and Metallist made a fan translation of the text and subtitles for the US version.5
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Russian Pirate
Sacson StudioPlayStation · SLUS-00707 (US)Released · complete
Sacson Studio released a pirate translation with Russian voice-over.6
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Russian Pirate
Golden LeonPlayStation · SLUS-00707 (US)Released · complete
Golden Leon released a pirate translation with Russian voice-over.7
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Russian Pirate
ParadoxPlayStation · SLUS-00707 (US)Released · complete
Paradox released a pirate version that reuses Sacson Studio's text with a new title screen and voice-over.8
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Russian Pirate
KudosPlayStation · SLUS-00707 (US)Released · complete
A pirate translation attributed to Kudos leaves the map untranslated and has bugs in some item displays.9
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Russian Pirate
RGR StudioPlayStation · SLUS-00707 (US)Released · partial
RGR Studio released a pirate subtitle translation; the dialogue remains in English and the map is untranslated.10
How to run it today
Silent Hill (1999) never received an official PC version. It was sold digitally only as a PS one Classic for PS3 and PSP, and no current PS4/PS5 store listing could be confirmed on the check date. In 2026 a fan-made native PC port built on a decompilation of the PS1 code appeared (the silent-hill-decomp beta); it contains no game data and needs the game data from the player's own PS1 disc.
Reception
Silent Hill sold more than two million copies, scored 86/100 on Metacritic and was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2026.1
In lists
Sources
- 1en.wikipedia.org
- 2ja.wikipedia.org
- 3tcrf.net
- 4rgdb.info
- 5rgdb.info
- 6rgdb.info
- 7rgdb.info
- 8rgdb.info
- 9rgdb.info
- 10rgdb.info
- 11rgdb.info
- 12github.com
- 13github.com
- 14ja.wikipedia.org
- 15ja.wikipedia.org
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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