Critics Like SILENT HILL: Townfall, So Why Are Steam Players Staying Away?

Jeu : SILENT HILL: Townfall | Développeur : Screen Burn Interactive | Publishers: Konami, Annapurna Interactive | Plateformes : PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PS5 | Date de sortie : September 24, 2026 (Deluxe Edition early access September 22) | Prix : $49.99 (Standard), $59.99 (Deluxe)

SILENT HILL: Townfall is off to a noticeably quieter start on Steam than Konami’s recent revival titles. Its concurrent player peak sits at roughly a third of what SILENT HILL f and the SILENT HILL 2 remake reached. Meanwhile, PC performance complaints are dragging down its user reviews.

The Numbers

According to SteamDB data compiled by Notebookcheck, Townfall peaked at 8,360 concurrent players. By comparison, the SILENT HILL 2 remake hit 23,676 in October 2024. SILENT HILL f followed with 22,621 in September 2025.

That leaves Townfall almost two-thirds behind both games during its first weekend. Still, Steam peaks only tell part of the story, since they exclude PS5 and Epic Games Store players.

Performance Problems on PC

Most negative Steam reviews focus on unstable frame rates. Players report stutter when entering new areas of St. Amelia, which Notebookcheck links to shader compilation in Unreal Engine 5. Others describe micro-stutters and unusually high CPU usage, even on high-end PCs.

Konami and Screen Burn acknowledged the issues shortly after launch. In a poste sur X, they confirmed a patch targeting performance on the Steam and Epic Games Store versions. However, the patch had not arrived as of September 28, according to Notebookcheck.

The PS5 version tells a different story. Digital Foundry found the game runs impressively on PS5 Pro, using hardware-accelerated Lumen even in performance mode. That contrast points to PC optimization as the main technical problem.

A Divisive Design

Performance is not the only sticking point. Townfall is the first major SILENT HILL game played entirely in first person. That choice has split fans over whether Screen Burn strayed too far from the series formula.

Others argue puzzles take up too much room, leaving the pacing between encounters uneven. Critics, by contrast, have been far kinder.

Townfall holds an 81 on Metacritic, while SILENT HILL f and the SILENT HILL 2 remake each sit at 86. That gap is modest, yet it undercuts the confidence Konami showed before launch. Series producer Motoi Okamoto had said Townfall “might end up being the masterpiece” of the revival.

Résultat final

Townfall’s weak Steam debut looks more like a PC optimization problem than a quality problem, given its solid critical reception. Still, a first-person spin-off was always likely to struggle against the SILENT HILL 2 remake’s pull. If Konami and Screen Burn ship a meaningful patch soon, the numbers may recover, but the first-week window has closed.