Now, it looks like the survival horror title isn’t coming any time soon, or possibly at all. While developers haven’t officially canceled Abandoned, a new report indicates that developers may not be actively working on the game.
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According to Gamespot, several people close to the project confirmed that Abandoned is on hold due to a lack of funding. Project lead Hasan Kahraman said Blue Box is working on a playable prologue to help finance the game. However, the studio has not made much progress on that front. More than just a case of poor management and unrealistic goals, the latest news paints a picture of a duplicitous and erratic lead developer with little to back up his promises. Part of the problems may come from multiple and radical changes to what Abandoned even is.
Initially pitched as a survival horror game about a man abducted by an evil cult, it’s reportedly been rewritten multiple times. During this process, Abandoned gained and lost concepts like rogue AIs and vampires, with one source describing the latter concept as a Resident Evil clone. Abandoned has also reportedly oscillated between the initial survival horror concept and becoming an action game. Kahraman has since circled back to the original concept of a first-person horror game about a cult in the wilderness, but he still has nothing to show but a few wall textures and unfinished assets. As GameSpot’s Mark Delaney put it, “As it stands, there is no meaningful evidence that Abandoned exists in any real way.”
It’s not unheard of for games to suffer from an unclear creative vision. However, Kahraman’s behavior has been uniquely concerning even without getting into his deleted tweets promoting the rumors that Abandoned was secretly a Silent Hill game. Most of the available information comes from members of a private online chatroom who told stories of his dishonesty and erratic mood changes. According to these sources, he dismissed potential business partners as “scammers,” attempted to pursue a romantic relationship with one group member, and made odd requests and job offers.
Many sources describe a toxic community where members were pressured to support the game while being punished for criticizing or asking questions. Kahraman also became paranoid after community members reportedly leaked some of Abandoned’s unfinished assets. Several chatroom members were asked to sign dubious non-disclosure agreements, which asked them for personal information and were notable for their lack of professional language.
Even Kahraman’s studio, Blue Box, exists under a cloud of suspicion and contradictory information. He claims to have a team of about fifty people developing Abandoned. However, Blue Box’s registration with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce only lists ten employees. The company also registered under a second name, Pixel Molecule. Frankly, the story of Abandoned’s development seems to have more twists and turns than the plot of an actual horror game.
Abandoned is reportedly in development for PC and PS5.
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Source: GameSpot
