Some Twitter and Reddit users are casting doubts on Abandoned developer Blue Box Game Studios after digging into its history of unreleased projects dating back to 2015. These critics warn that the studio's upcoming PS5-exclusive survival horror game Abandoned could suffer a similar fate. This skepticism follows the recent uproar caused by the Abandoned trailer app's technical issues, which is supposed to provide the first official look at the game since its reveal in April.
Fervent discussion surrounding Blue Box Game Studios and Abandoned is nothing new, with several internet sleuths picking apart the game's promotional footage and the studio's history in recent months. Perhaps the most popular Abandoned talking point is its potential connection to Hideo Kojima's Silent Hills, which was canceled back in 2015 when Kojima and publisher Konami parted ways. Those fueling this theory point out the first-person survival horror similarities between Abandoned and Silent Hills, but other details supposedly linking the projects tend to do so in a roundabout, convoluted way. While these tenuous theories and the resulting frenzy prompted Blue Box to say the ordeal has had a negative impact on Abandoned's development, it's potentially served as a marketing tool for the indie developer's game.
A group of devoted Kojima fans are sticking to their guns, but some are taking a more critical approach to the discussion. A Twitter user going by the handle scrtzgaming responded to an update on Abandoned's technical issues with a detailed infographic that outlines Blue Box's past projects and announcements. On Reddit, user TicTacPaul also shared a more in-depth breakdown of similar information.
These criticisms of Blue Box focus mainly on the development of a horror game called Rewind, later retitled Whisper and then The Haunting. The game, described as a paranormal investigation adventure in the vein of the enduring Fatal Frame series seems to have been caught in a cycle of being revealed, marketed, delayed indefinitely, and eventually going silent. These posts also briefly touch on a now-defunct Blue Box mobile game known as Tales of the Six Swords, which appears to have suffered similar issues.
This isn't a very promising track record, but failing to get games off the ground is nothing unheard of in the industry. Still, this has led some onlookers to disavow Blue Box as a "scam" studio. While the company's earlier failures may not inspire confidence, there's no solid evidence to support claims that Blue Box or Abandoned aren't legitimate. Based on the information available, it is far more likely that the studio simply struggled with many of the same development hiccups that developers of all sizes do.
On August 12, the seven-year anniversary of P.T., Abandoned rumors hit a fever pitch, making it clear the social phenomena is unlikely to cease anytime soon. In reality, Blue Box Game Studios' history is probably indicative of little more than an independent team dealing with common struggles like insufficient funding, planning, or overambition. Hopefully, Abandoned can break this pattern.
Source: scrtz/Twitter, TicTacPaul/Reddit
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