Blue Box Game Studios' upcoming survival simAbandonedhas been making headlines since it was firstannounced in a PlayStation blog postback in April. Many questioned why Sony had given the relatively obscure Dutch developer such a prominent platform to promote its game, which in turn led to numerous theories that there may be much more toAbandonedthan first meets the eye.
Initially, many wondered whether the studio was actually a front for another developer, with Hideo Kojima being the prime candidate. Some even questioned whetherAbandonedcould be a newSilent Hillgame due to Kojima’s longstanding connection with the series.Blue Box eventually put out a statement to distance itselffrom the Kojima links and things ultimately calmed down, although a recent social media post from the developer has once again spun the rumor mill into overdrive.
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Blue Box put out a tweet that read “Abandoned = (First letter S, Last letter L),” which many took to be confirmation thatthe earlierSilent Hillrumorshad in fact been true. To make matters worse, the developer also changed its YouTube banner to a picture of some hills; much to the delight of eager and excitedSilent Hillfans. Their hopes were dashed just a few hours later, however, when Blue Box tweeted again to once again dispel both the Kojima and theSilent Hilllinks.
The tweet makes it clear that the studio has no connection whatsoever with either Kojima or Konami and thattheSilent HillIPis still owned by the latter. The developer also apologized for any confusion, adding that it had never been the team’s intention to tease the nameSilent Hill. Given the previous rumors, though, many are finding it hard to believe that the studio didn’t know exactly what it was doing when it put out the not so subtle tweet.
Despite Blue Box' denials, some still believe that Kojima is involved with the project in some way and there may well be evidence to back that up. First and foremost, Kojima has some history of this, having once used the pseudonym “Moby Dick Studio” during thedevelopment ofMetal Gear Solid 5.Then there’s Blue Box' mysterious founder Hasan Kahraman, who as well as sharing the same initials as Hideo Kojima, also has a name that means “Handsome Hero” when translated from Arabic and Turkish into English.
Whether accidental/coincidental or not, the Kojima and Silent Hilllinks have undoubtedly raised the profile ofAbandoned; a game that may have been ignored or forgotten were it not for the intense speculation. With a reveal expected in less than a week, quite possibly in the form of a demo streamed directly to players' PS5s, the timing of today’s tweets has once again thrustAbandonedinto the spotlight at a time when many were beginning to lose interest.
Abandonedis in development exclusively for the PlayStation 5 and is currently slated for a Q4 2021 release.
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