Two Horror Games Drop on September 24: CONTROL Resonant Hits 84, Silent Hill Townfall 81 — Both Dodging GTA 6
Remedy turned CONTROL from a metroidvania shooter into an open-world action RPG with Dylan Faden as the lead: Metacritic 84 from 60 critics, OpenCritic 85. Konami and Screen Burn's Silent Hill: Townfall goes fully first-person for the first time, moving the series to a fictional Scottish island town in 1996: Metacritic 81, OpenCritic 82 with 90 percent of critics recommending. EA Sports FC 27 closes the week on September 25. The reason everything is crammed here is simple: nobody wants to release near GTA 6.
一、Two Horror Games, Two Very Close Scores
CONTROL Resonant: Remedy rebuilds its own formula
CONTROL Resonant arrives September 24 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S at $59.99. The protagonist is Dylan Faden, brother of the original game's Jesse Faden, and the setting is a Manhattan torn open by a paranatural catastrophe. Remedy dismantled the metroidvania-shooter structure that made the 2019 original work and replaced it with an open world and action RPG systems.
The gamble mostly paid off. Metacritic sits at 84 across 60 critic reviews, OpenCritic at 85. IGN scored it 8/10; IGN Benelux and Vice gave it perfect scores; Eurogamer Germany called it "Remedy completely off the leash." Forbes noted the score opened at 86 and settled at 84, with the Xbox version at 81 and PC at 83.
Silent Hill: Townfall goes first-person for the first time
Silent Hill: Townfall is the other pole. Developed by Screen Burn, published by Konami and supervised by Annapurna, it is the first game in the series played entirely in first person. You are Simon Ordell, played by Jovan Adepo, called back to the fictional Scottish coastal town of St. Amelia in 1996. The signature tool is the CRTV, a portable analog television that pings enemy positions on a signal bar and drives the puzzle design; cutscenes use a 2.35:1 CinemaScope frame.
Its scores land squarely in "good, not transcendent": Metacritic 81 from roughly 56–60 critic reviews, OpenCritic 82 with 90 percent of critics recommending across 31 reviews. Digital Spy gave it a perfect score, PlayStation LifeStyle and ComingSoon gave it 9/10, and TheGamer gave it 3.5/5. It costs $49.99, discounted to $37.49 on Fanatical.
二、The Chain Reaction: September Is a Wall of Releases
From September 3 to September 25, there is no gap
The month is abnormally packed. September 3: The Blood of Dawnwalker from Rebel Wolves, the ex-CD Projekt Red team, with a $40 million budget according to Bloomberg. September 4: Onimusha: Way of the Sword, which Capcom moved up from September 25. September 10: Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14 with Power-up Kit Legend Edition. September 15: Marvel's Wolverine on PS5. September 17: Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave on Switch 2. September 24: the two horror games above. September 25: EA Sports FC 27, which is adding an open-world Grounds mode.
A player named mrpyo1 put it bluntly on X, in a post quoted by Chinese outlet Gamersky: "September and October 2026 might be the craziest two months in video game history."
he real referee arrives November 19
Every publisher is dodging the same date. GTA 6 launches November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S at $79.99 standard and $99.99 ultimate, with pre-orders open since June 25 and preloading from November 12 — even physical boxes contain a download code. Take-Two has repeatedly stressed that the launch is single-player.
The surrounding signals matter too. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy told Bloomberg that after talking with Rockstar he expects "this big bump with GTA 6, but then an even bigger one next year when they launch multiplayer," pointing to a 2027 multiplayer rollout. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told investors PC is "becoming more and more important to our company over time." September's slate is not competing for the same money; it is competing for the last stretch of attention before November.
三、Why Horror Suddenly Punches Like This
Critical success is not commercial success
A caveat first: 84 and 81 are review scores, not sales. Horror has a lower ceiling than shooters, a narrower audience and less creator-driven virality. The honest read on both games is franchise maintenance — Remedy pulling CONTROL from a niche into mainstream action RPG territory, and Konami keeping Silent Hill on a steady annual cadence.
Comparison: Konami's annual rhythm is worth more than a trophy score
Konami's Silent Hill revival is a portfolio play: remakes, originals and external collaborations aimed at shipping something every year. Townfall, led by Screen Burn with Annapurna supervising, is exactly what that looks like — handing the series to a smaller studio that specializes in psychological storytelling. For a publisher, one controllable 80-plus game a year beats waiting for a 90-plus miracle.
四、The Risks: Do Not Skip What Reviewers Hated
The two games share one flaw: repetition.
CONTROL Resonant's combat is widely described as monotonous; among the harshest notes collected by ixbt.games is that boss fights have so much health you chip away at them for five minutes. Push Square and SECTOR.sk both landed in the low 8s. Townfall's controversy is more concentrated: the stalking-creature stealth sections starring The Weight take up a large share of the runtime. GamesRadar called the game "wearingly stealth heavy." VGC was blunter, saying the stealth sections "ruin things entirely," and GameSpot admitted parts "can become predictable or frustrating." Series veterans who would rather fight than hide may bounce off both.
五、Meanwhile: Kojima Handed His Star to Xbox
One more thing from the same week. At Xbox's Tokyo Game Show 2026 broadcast on September 17, Hideo Kojima revealed that Bill Skarsgård, best known as Pennywise in the It films, will lead PHYSINT, alongside Charlee Fraser.
The backstory is the dramatic part. PlayStation Studios emailed Kojima Productions in mid-June 2026 to cancel its involvement. Kojima spent roughly three months finding a replacement publisher before agreeing to work with Xbox again — the second collaboration after horror title OD. Kojima says PHYSINT "continues to make steady progress," with no release window announced.
六、My Take: September's Winner Is the Player
The best thing about this year is that horror has stopped surviving purely on remakes. Remedy was willing to dismantle a formula that already worked; Konami was willing to move its flagship to Scotland and into first person. Both decisions matter more than an 84 and an 81.
As for the schedule: putting two headphones-on horror games on the same day is a spreadsheet decision. Players count how many heart attacks one evening can hold. Come discuss in the Gghubs comments.
七、FAQ
When do CONTROL Resonant and Silent Hill: Townfall release?
Both launch on September 24, 2026. CONTROL Resonant is out on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S for $59.99; Silent Hill: Townfall is out on PS5 and PC for $49.99.
What are their review scores?
CONTROL Resonant has an 84 Metacritic score from 60 critics and 85 on OpenCritic. Silent Hill: Townfall has 81 on Metacritic from roughly 56–60 critic reviews and 82 on OpenCritic, with 90 percent of critics recommending it.
Why is September so crowded with releases?
GTA 6 launches November 19, 2026, so publishers are pushing mid-to-large games into September and October to avoid direct competition. The same week includes EA Sports FC 27 on September 25.
Which Silent Hill game is Townfall and what perspective does it use?
It is a new entry in Konami's Silent Hill revival and the first in the series played entirely in first person, set in 1996 in the fictional Scottish coastal town of St. Amelia, developed by Screen Burn.