The ongoing fight between Hideo Kojima (the creator of Metal Gear) and Konami (the publisher of Metal Gear) is a long and confusing one. While no one outside of the company knows exactly what's going on, it's clear that the designer and the publisher are at odds with each other. Studios are being renamed, Kojima's been mostly absent from social media and entire projects are being cancelled — namely, Silent Hills.
If you don't know the title Silent Hills, P.T. might ring a bell — it's short for "playable teaser." The demo was released online last year. To put it lightly, it was one of the most horrifying video game experiences in recent memory. It didn't matter if you were a Silent Hill fan, the demo was absolutely terrifying. The game was one of the best examples of video game horror in recent memory... but the ongoing feud between Kojima – who was working as the game's director – and Konami resulted in the project's cancellation.
Sadly, it only gets worse from there — after Konami pulled Silent Hills from the PlayStation Network, some players noticed that they were being locked out of their entire gaming libraries.
According to Twitter user Nick Cramer, his entire digital collection was suddenly locked after Konami pulled Silent Hills from the PlayStation Store. Naturally, Cramer tried to remove the demo from his console... which would effectively erase it forever, as it's impossible to re-download. Of course, it'd be worth it if he could access the rest of his games again — unfortunately, deleting Silent Hills from his PlayStation 4 did nothing.
All of my games are locked, all of them. #PS4share pic.twitter.com/PzFzg47x1K
— Nick Cramer (@Pacifist_Elk) May 12, 2015
The problem stems from the PlayStation Network checking for game licenses (or the data that shows you legally purchased the game). Since Silent Hills is no longer available in any capacity, its license comes back as negative. Sony's automatic response of locking every digital purchase means that anyone with the demo still on their system could be at risk of losing their entire library.
#PS4share pic.twitter.com/se9Y4II4X0 — Nick Cramer (@Pacifist_Elk) May 12, 2015
At this point in time, it seems like the situation is relatively contained — few other reports have surfaced, and there could be extenuating circumstances surrounding the console locking the games away. That said, an entire NeoGAF thread full of users with the same problem has surfaced — so it's probably best to air on the side of caution. Anyone who still has the Silent Hills demo on their console should stay in Offline mode until everything's straightened out.
If the lockout is a result of Konami's actions, then it's yet another black mark on the publisher's reputation. The studio's recent actions against any projects headed by Hideo Kojima seem vindictive — and it's starting to look like gamers will get caught in the middle.
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