Blue Box Studios has responded to Hideo Kojima debunking rumors about his involvement on their game, Abandoned.
Blue Box shared this statement on Twitter:
“We want to thank Hideo Kojima for addressing the conspiracies openly. It has been a burden and not cool for both fans and developers. We hope everyone can close this for good. We are working hard on Abandoned and we would like to thank you all for your patience!
Also, we ask fans to stop harrassing Hideo Kojima regarding Abandoned messages. This is not acceptable and is not entertaining.”
Abandoned is a survival horror game announced for PlayStation 5 and Windows. The developer is Netherlands-based Blue Box Game Studios, with head developer Hasan Kahraman. Since its initial reveal, the game has been suspect to a lot of speculation and controversy.
The issues with Abandoned have essentially comprised one of two points. One is the allegation that the game has been undergoing troubled development, and the game is basically vaporware. Unfortunately, this has been partly fueled by the very real and visible delay of the game, and that includes even a delay for the promised game preview, called Abandoned: Prologue. We had reported that they intended to get both the preview and the game released this year, though of course that hasn’t come to fruition yet.
There had also been an investigative report alluding to a toxic work environment in Blue Box. This included claims that very little of the game exists, if any, and the promised Abandoned: Prologue itself is largely a hoax. A few months before this report, in April of 2022, Hasan had tried to clear the air about these rumors, explaining that the game had undergone huge changes. These changes are the reasons that the company had removed all their prior previews of the game.
The other is the relevant issue of the day, which is the game is somehow connected to Silent Hill or Hideo Kojima. It should be noted that there has never been any real basis for these rumors. The reason it’s been such a persistent rumor is that the initial teaser trailer looked very similar to Silent Hill, so much so that it evoked the speculation.
Now, as far back as June 2021, Hasan went on video on Twitter to deny the rumor that Abandoned was actually a Silent Hill game. However, it took Hideo addressing the rumor after all this time, to quash it completely.
In his podcast, Kojima spoke with Geoff Keighley about the situation. He had described having to address the rumors as a nuisance. He also expressed hope that Hasan and the team at Blue Box could release the game soon to end this speculation.
Unfortunately, it’s nearly a certainty that there will be people who still won’t believe the combined statements from Hasan and Kojima about Abandoned. The only thing that will likely change their minds, as well as the minds of all the doubters, is the day when Abandoned finally gets finished and released as promised. Hopefully, if that does happen, we won’t be waiting that long for it at all.
