Anthony DeVetis 
Update 8/13/21:
After 3 days Blue Box Games Studios finally updated their Abandoned app. Upon entering the app, players are greeted with a few boxes that are grayed out and one that isn’t. They all seem to be different trailers with the first one available now. Sadly, this first trailer is simply the three second video shown on BBGS’ Twitter feed which is highly disappointing to say the least. The video ends with a small snippet saying that a playable prologue is coming soon. At this point it’s extremely hard to say when or if we will ever get the remaining trailers for this game and/or the playable prologue.
By this point the exploits of bizarre developer Blue Box Game Studios have been well-documented and theorized to no end about. Without going too far down the rabbit hole, back in April, the Dutch-based developer released the vague, confusing, and eerie trailer for their new title Abandoned, exclusively for release on PS5. At the time, Blue Box Game Studios claimed it would be a horror title with “realistic gameplay” and would be releasing later this year with a gameplay reveal sometime this summer. So far, nothing out of the ordinary right?
Well, this was before BBGS announced a June reveal only to bungle it twice, while profusely apologizing to fans along the way. At the same time, curious gamers were falling down the rabbit hole and coming up with all sorts of theories, some plausible, some not mind you; chief among them was the title was actually a front for a new Silent Hill game and that Hideo Kojima himself was the mastermind behind the whole thing.
There is precedent for this of course as Hideo Kojima has been known to make crazy game reveals, as is evidenced with his made-up development studio, Moby Dick Studios, that was a front for the later-revealed Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Surely this insanity must be from the zany mind of Kojima?
BBGS later made some attempts to prove they have nothing to do with Kojima, Konami, or Silent Hill, but these were in vain as gamers were dubious after the developer themselves had been fanning the flames of the theories with now-deleted tweets. Gamers have since been flummoxed by the developers as they have learned that an app, downloaded from the PS Store, that would supposedly play the Abandoned trailer in real time, would be releasing on August 10. BBS even released an image with the title and August 10 date with a blurry figure in the background gamers quickly deciphered as a man with an eye-patch. Naturally, fans were quick to assume some Metal Gear Solid game announcement was imminent. So it goes…
Sony themselves superimposed the PlayStation logo over the initial reveal trailer, and were allowing this mysterious developer with little-to-no past work to have an app on their store, not to mention tease their many millions of fans. Something had to be up.
Fast-forward to yesterday, and mere minutes before the trailer’s unveiling on the Abandoned app, BBGS releases a short video of a man walking; just a shot of his feet moving in the dark, on Twitter. Then, nothing. No update, nada. When starting the app, you are greeted with language options and then a short paragraph detailing that what you are about to see is not actually playable but is still being presented to you in real time. This message is then followed with a “Check Back Soon…” that just sits there infinitely.
Gamers, at this point, are considerably tired of the charade BBGS is conducting here. A quick visit to the comments on the developer’s tweets will show fans outraged and over the whole ordeal. Some have even noticed some bizarre happenings such as Blue Box Game Studios’ YouTube page being completely wiped of it’s videos and their website delivering a vague something is coming message.
Approximately 20 minutes after the failed start, Blue Box Game Studios went to Twitter to explain there was a problem uploading the patch and told fans that they would inform them when the issue was resolved. That was now 24 hours ago. Since, there have been minor updates from the developer that is basically regurgitating the same tired, “We’re working on it” message. BBGS has claimed that they will not be delaying the patch and reminded fans that they are indeed a small team and are still working to resolve the issue as quick as they can.
Currently, it’s apparent no one can make heads or tails of what will happen next. Some are theorizing that this was the “Real-Time Experience” the developer proposed; that we are currently living it. Others, are clinging to the hope that the trailer will still arrive soon, while most are assuming that the whole thing will be delayed again to a later date.
At this point, it’s hard to say what will happen next. The entire proceeding is tough to pin down. Is Abandoned even real? What could have possibly gone wrong with the update that Blue Box Game Studios delayed themselves, only to bungle it at the last minute once again? Is the whole thing a sham? Could it be a front for a Silent Hill or Metal Gear Solid game? Where is Kojima? Who really is game director Hasan Kahraman? It is all immensely perplexing, and is hitting a point where gamers are no longer intrigued, but frustrated.
There is no doubt this is one of the most bizarre game revealings the industry has seen in a long time.
Keep it locked to GameRVW.com for any further updates on Abandoned, Blue Box Game Studios and all of their shenanigans.
