The director of Slitterhead claims that the development has reached its climax

The director of Slitterhead asserts that the game has reached its climax of development despite there being no recent news since its announcement in December 2021.

Director of Slitterhead Keiichiro Toyama recently asserted via Twitter that the game has reached its climax. One of the most intriguing horror games to be released in recent years, Slitterhead comes from a number of veterans of the Japanese video game industry. The game appears to be nearing completion of development even though no gameplay has yet been shown since its announcement in December 2021.

The Game Awards 2021 saw the debut game from Bokeh Game Studio, a new studio established by several key creatives from Sony's shuttered Japan Studio, be revealed as Slitterhead. Keiichiro Toyama, who directed the first Silent Hill and later left Konami to direct PlayStation games like Siren and Gravity Rush, is one of these important creatives. Toyama announced the establishment of Bokeh Game Studio after Sony disbanded the studio in 2021 to refocus it on Team Asobi, the creators of Astro's Playroom.

Except for Akira Yamaoka joining the team as the game's composer, not much has been said about Slitterhead since its initial reveal in 2021. However, the development team has stated that it plans to release the game in 2023. Now that Toyama has retweeted a post from Bokeh Game Studio highlighting job opportunities at the studio, including character designs, it appears as though the game may be setting up to hit that release window. Toyama claims that Slitterhead's development has reached its peak and that as production picks up, problems are emerging for the character design team.

開発佳境に入って来まして、特にキャラ（モデリング～テクスチャ）制作スタッフちょっとピンチです。MAYA、Zbrush、Substance Painterあたり習熟した方とても有難いので是非に……🙇🙇🙇 https://t.co/3vknSz00xm

— 外山圭一郎 (@K_Toyama) January 18, 2023

There is some room for interpretation as to what Toyama means by the "climax of development" even though Slitterhead is slated for 2023 with a high likelihood of moving into 2024. This term is intentionally ambiguous; by way of contrast, Atlus has stated that Project Re: Fantasy's development has reached its peak as of December 2020.

While some may interpret this to mean that the game is nearing completion, it could also mean that the difficulty of the game's development has increased, and things will likely go more smoothly once this stage is over. In any case, this ideally shows that Slitterhead is sufficiently advanced in the development process that 2023 will undoubtedly mark the year that Bokeh Game Studios officially breaks its silence about the game and introduces fans to the world of Slitterhead. Slitterhead faces stiff competition as a new IP in the horror genre because Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Dead Space, Alan Wake, and Alone in the Dark are scheduled to make comebacks this year. As a result, the sooner Bokeh Game Studio makes the game public, the better.

Slitterhead is currently in development.

Source: Daire Behan