Abandoned is planned to be revealed to the gaming public via a “real-time experience” app, a method unheard of for video game announcements. Traditionally, games are first shown off with a trailer or blog post, but Abandoned aims to allow players to see the game running in real time on their PS5 consoles, with a playable demo to boot. These demos were first promised to go live in late June, then again just recently on August 10. Both times, Blue Box had to unexpectedly delay the app on the day it was meant to go live. After much frustration and anticipation from fans, the Abandoned app was finally available, to a disappointing reception from those following the game.
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Abandoned - The Realtime Experience
As stated, the Abandoned app was inexplicably delayed from its planned August 10 launch date, much to the dismay of eager fans who were already let down from the previous delay in June. Blue Box gave no explanation other than vague “technical difficulties,” with many accusing the company of being highly unprofessional in its handling of the ordeal. Regardless of whether Abandoned was actually a Hideo Kojima project in disguise or truly an indie game, fans were beginning to lose patience with the lack of clarity and constant postponing of elements that are otherwise communicated to fans with announcements or simple trailer drops.
However, when the app did receive an update and was finally available for PS5 owners to experience, what was offered left much to be desired. This is because the app itself wasn’t really made up of anything at all aside from a brief four second trailer that Blue Box had already shared on its Twitter account a few days before. After months of teasing, conflicting information, and persistent delays, many feel that this is not an acceptable rollout on the part of Blue Box Studios.
There is however more trailers and demos due to be released within the app, which is clear from all the placeholder text and options. This means that eventually more light will be shed on what Abandoned truly is, but some still feel that there are too many other coincidences to ignore.
The Blue Box Studios “Conspiracy”
Even with all of the strange behavior from Blue Box Studios and disappointment surrounding the project so far, there are still pockets of gamers that believe Abandoned is more than it is being advertised as. Many argue that Abandoned is in fact a project being overseen by Hideo Kojima, possibly a revival of Silent Hill or Metal Gear Solid (or even both). This entire fiasco with the app, delays, and constant misdirection is all a part of an “ARG” (alternate reality game), in which the real world is incorporated into the game itself, as a sort of unorthodox marketing campaign.
There are too many coincidences for some players to ignore regarding Abandoned. The director of the game is named Hasan Kahraman, sharing the same initials as Hideo Kojima. The Abandoned app finally went live on August 13, one day after the initial launch of P.T, which was August 12, 2014. Some have even gone as far as to say the sudden delay of the app functioned exactly as intended, quite literally making gamers experience the feeling of being “abandoned” in “real-time.” Whatever the truth is behind this odd PS5-exclusive game, the road leading to the answer has been one of the most engaging gaming mysteries in recent memory.
Abandoned is in development for PS5.
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