Del Toro’s decision arrives in the aftermath of two high-profile failures, the most recent of which stems from Metal Gear Solid series director Hideo Kojima’s departure from publisher Konami.
Del Toro was originally slated to work alongside Kojima during the development of Silent Hills, a reboot of Konami’s long-running survival horror franchise. A demo version, titled P.T., garnered enthusiasm from fans for its inventive first-person, horror-themed gameplay.
Kojima and Konami have since parted ways, however. The director’s name was struck from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, and development of Silent Hills was abandoned following the rumored dismantling of studio Kojima Productions. P.T. was subsequently removed from the PlayStation Network, and is no longer downloadable.
“I have proven to be the albatross of video games,” del Toro said. “I joined THQ, and THQ goes broke. I join Kojima, and Kojima leaves Konami. I have decided, in order not to destroy anyone else’s life, I have decided I will never again get involved in video games. Otherwise, I’ll join someone and his house will explode, or something.”
Del Toro previously partnered with publisher THQ to develop Insane, a planned trilogy of survival horror games. Announced in 2010, Insane was to feature gameplay that blurred the lines between fantasy and reality, and challenged the player’s sense of morality throughout.
THQ later canceled production of Insane, leaving del Toro with the game’s intellectual property rights. The publisher closed its doors in 2013 after declaring bankruptcy.
Guillermo del Toro has written and directed several major motion pictures, including 2001’s The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006. Del Toro’s only credited work in a completed video game project is with 2008’s Hellboy: The Science of Evil, in which he served as the game’s voiceover director.
