At the 2025 Brazil Game Show, the gaming world found itself at the crossroads of technology and creativity, as legendary designer Hideo Kojima and Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto publicly disagreed on the future role of artificial intelligence (AI) in game development. Their debate, which quickly spread across social media and industry circles, has become emblematic of a larger conversation: can AI ever truly capture the spark of human ingenuity that drives groundbreaking games like Silent Hill f?
It all began with comments Kojima made during a high-profile interview with Rolling Stone and his appearance at the Brazil Game Show on October 23, 2025. Kojima, best known for his work on the Metal Gear series and as a former Konami developer, warned that the industry’s growing reliance on remakes and reboots could lead to creative stagnation. He suggested that, “in the future, remakes and sequels will be made by AI.” While Kojima clarified that he doesn’t see AI as a threat—calling it a “friend” that can automate repetitive or technical tasks—he cautioned that an overreliance on AI could dull the creative edge that defines great games. “AI can help streamline processes,” Kojima explained, “but creativity must remain human-led.”
Kojima’s remarks sparked an immediate and passionate response from Motoi Okamoto, the producer behind the newly released Silent Hill f. Okamoto, speaking to Rolling Stone Brazil and in a translated statement shared by Automaton, argued that AI would never be able to make a game like Silent Hill f. “It would be quite difficult for AI to replace works that take a significant departure from the original path of the series, like Silent Hill f,” Okamoto said. He acknowledged that “AI might be able to create a proposal for a sequel set in the Silent Hill universe,” but stressed that “bold challenges” such as changing the story’s setting to 1960s Japan or recruiting acclaimed horror writer Ryukishi07 are the kinds of creative leaps that only humans can make.
Okamoto’s conviction is borne out by the remarkable success and unique vision of Silent Hill f. Released on September 25, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, the game sold over one million copies within just four days of launch, according to Konami. This achievement not only outpaced the 2024 Silent Hill 2 Remake—which itself sold 2.5 million copies worldwide—but also helped push the franchise’s total sales past the 10 million mark. Konami has alluded to Silent Hill f outperforming its predecessor, a feat that Okamoto says “AI could never recreate.”
The creative choices that set Silent Hill f apart are precisely those Okamoto believes are out of reach for AI. The game marks a radical departure from the series’ traditional setting, transporting players not to the fog-shrouded American town of Silent Hill, but to 1960s Japan. Here, the story follows Hinako Shimizu, a teenager grappling with societal and family pressures in a period of cultural upheaval. The narrative, penned by Ryukishi07, is lauded for its haunting, emotional storytelling—a quality that reviewers and fans alike have praised. As IGN noted in their review, “Silent Hill f presents a fresh new setting to explore and a fascinatingly dark story to unravel.”
Okamoto elaborated on these points in a social media post responding to Kojima’s claims: “AI may be able to put together a project for a sequel that takes place in the Silent Hill universe, but things like changing the story’s setting to Japan or getting Ryukishi07 on board as a writer are the kind of bold choices AI would never be able to make.” This sentiment was echoed in the game’s Accolades Trailer, published by Gamereactor on October 23, 2025, which highlighted the critical and commercial reception of Silent Hill f.
The debate over AI’s role in gaming is hardly limited to Kojima and Okamoto. The rise of generative tools like Sora has led to a surge in fan-made parody content and has even drawn copyright concerns from major companies like Nintendo. Yet, some industry figures share Kojima’s optimism about AI as a supportive tool. Glen Schofield, creator of Dead Space, recently told Rolling Stone that after two years of experimenting with AI, he sees it as a way to “improve speed, reduce costs, and support teams — not replace them.”
Still, Okamoto’s argument is that the essence of innovation in gaming comes from human intuition, risk-taking, and cultural sensitivity—qualities that, at least for now, remain beyond the reach of even the most advanced AI. “Choices like changing the setting or involving a specific writer require human intuition and courage,” Okamoto stated. The success of Silent Hill f seems to reinforce his point, as the game’s departure from franchise norms and its emotionally resonant story have been widely celebrated.
The broader context for this debate is Konami’s recent push to reinvigorate the Silent Hill franchise. After a decade of relative silence, the company made headlines in October 2022 by announcing three new Silent Hill games at once—a move Okamoto says was meant to demonstrate Konami’s renewed commitment to the series and to attract both longtime fans and newcomers. The Silent Hill 2 Remake was designed with “half new, half old customers in mind,” Okamoto explained, aiming to bridge the gap between nostalgia and innovation.
As the industry grapples with the rapid advancement of AI, the conversation between Kojima and Okamoto highlights a crucial tension: how to balance the efficiency and power of new technologies with the unpredictable, sometimes messy, but always vital spark of human creativity. While AI may soon handle many of the technical and repetitive aspects of game development, the heart of the medium—its stories, its risks, its ability to surprise—remains, for now, a distinctly human domain.
For fans and creators alike, the success of Silent Hill f stands as a testament to what can happen when bold ideas and human passion take center stage. Whether AI will ever cross that creative threshold is a question for the future, but for now, the debate itself is a sign of an industry still very much alive with possibility.
