There’s definitely something odd about upcoming PlayStation 5 survival game Abandoned, but we fear the speculation is now getting out of hand. Two of the top-voted posts on PS5’s sub-Reddit now pertain to Konami tweets about upcoming Silent Hill merchandise (a “connection”, apparently); meanwhile, fans have tracked down Blue Box Game Studios “boss” Hasan Kahraman’s PlayStation Network account and started sending him messages.
The story hasn’t really developed much since our massive article on it, although Summer Game Fest host Geoff Keighley has claimed that he’s been in contact with Kahraman and is trying to get some screenshots of the title. A demo will purportedly release on the PS5 imminently, where you’ll be able to “watch” the game’s trailers in real-time. In fact, screenshots have shown Kahraman using the app on his PS5 recently.
The problem is that, at this point, fans are expecting something big here – either a Silent Hill sequel, a secret Hideo Kojima title, or something else. But while we agree that there’s something not quite right with this project – it’s the strangest hype cycle we’ve ever seen for a new release – the weirdness doesn’t automatically mean that it’s worth paying attention to. In fact, it’s the contrary – Blue Box Game Studios, assuming it is a real developer, is playing a very dangerous game here.
Comments 86
Either Blue Box has actually hinted at Silent Hill or they just possibly made the worst mistake of making that teaser tweet.
i'm in the believer camp.
thing some people forget or don't know is that kojima has done this very same thing in the past with MGS5.
he "created" a fake studio under a fake studio head name,denying any connections to MGS etc.
it's litteraly the exact same scenario playing out again.
After playing with hype and hopes like some gigantic kitten, the people involved are now probably terrified that Konami will swoop in and sue them out of existence. Imagine what Nintendo would do to this scrappy band of malcontents.
This Blue Box rabbit hole is so deep I'd rather just wait for something concrete before getting paranoid XD
I'm guessing you survive the woods, run onto a road and there is a sign that says welcome to silent hill with loads of fog behind it.
kept you waiting huh
Konami's official merchandise Twitter has told questioning fans via DM that they should "hold tight and keep an eye on our Socials 🤫🤫🤫". The promotional image the account uses for the Silent Hill merchandise also uses font from the first four Silent Hill games for each two letters of the title...but the title is off centre with the image like it is missing a final letter....Furthermore, the PlayStation insider "The Nexus" on ResetEra had said that they are going to use their connections and put out some feelers and see what they can find....a day later, she came back to say "#TeamReal". After being asked about this comment and what pushed her to believe these theories, she sent one more reply saying "Get ready for Paradise". Paradise is a place promised by The Order in Silent Hill.
One of my fave go-to PlayStation news YouTubers, whom also helped kick off this conspiracy - MBG, also sent a DM to Blue Box asking for peace of mind and not too long after....his behaviour has completely shifted to not talking about the conspiracy directly and just saying he's "very excited" to hear more about Abandoned. He's also posting a couple of hints that seem to be saying "just wait", including a picture of Cliff from Death Stranding doing the "shh" motion.
These are just developments over the past 24hrs, nevermind the entire time this has been investigated and the mass amount of evidence found since then.
I believe that it is something. I definitely believe a new Silent Hill is about to be announced. I'm just not fully convinced Kojima will be at the helm (but then again, there's a lot of evidence to suggest he's up to something when it comes to Blue Box).
Something is definitely going on. It is exciting and real or not, has destroyed E3 lol. All eyes are on Sony...again.
A game with misplays hype that goes down in flames can be highly profitable whereas a game that sinks silently won’t be. The way their marketing this game is completely rational even if it’s likely to upset a lot of people in the long run.
It’s actually a gritty reboot of Katamari Damacy.
What I think is that whatever this game is, it's Hideo Kojima. I don't think it's Silent Hill though, it's just Kojima next game and it's a horror one.
If Blue Box are real and this isn't a silent hill/kojima game then i feel sorry for them. A lot of expectations have been put on them yhat they cannot possibly meet or exceed. Heck even if its a kojima silent hill game it will struggle to meet this kinda hype
Blue Box is actually Blue Point and they are remaking Silent Hill 1.
Oof.
Imagine the levels of rage if this is really just an indie dev putting out a Blair Witch style game lol
Paul McCartney is dead.
I’ll be amused no matter what happens.
Either way its a stroke of genius because the attention this game is getting is ridiculous. Whether that burns them only time will tell.
On a side note, someone said Hassan is accepting friend requests. Zero intention of messaging but was curious to see if this was true and i can confirm that we are now 'close' friends 😂
The disappointment will be real when they realise it isn't going to be a Silent Hill game at all.
@jdv95 except this fake studio can be traced back to before he left Konami and even before P.T. released
Ok, just signed up and came out of stalking to say this: Hassan Kahraman in Persian means: Best Hero.
Given that Kojima is obsessed with the word hero, it might have something to do with him. I might be my imagination though.
@roe lmao...i guess i'm of that age to know that one..
I'm honestly nervous and anxious about this 😬 I want a Kojima horror game
Hideo Kojima is nog working for Konami anymore. Half of the rumours make a connection between Kojima and Abandoned. The other half make a connection between Konami and the rumours.
The only way both can be true, is when...
They're now back together again (?) and continue their previous set out marketing campaign (?!).
That sequence of things is a bit weird, and I think what makes it even less believable is that the Blue Box dev has gone out of their way to deny a connection two times already and afterwards its director saying the rumours aren't fun. It's fake.
@jdv95 in those previous case the fake dev in question never went out of their way to deny the allegations. So it's not the exact same.
For those interested in even more about this, I've been compiling key points about it here
https://www.reddit.com/r/PS5/comments/o3nz6q/OfficialKonamiShop_on_Twitter_now_openly_showing_they%27re_having_Silent_Hills_merch./h2cr46j/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
@The_New_Butler
It's Friday now just FYI.
@Boobel and there is a state of play already rumoured for next Friday...
@Rob_230 keep connecting things good sir!
Jesus... Silent hill games weren't even that good. Wtf. Death stranding was a disaster.
Why so much hype for mediocrity
I'm really divided on this. In my heart of hearts, I want this to be real so badly but I know this whole situation is going to lead to massive disappointment. But there are some truly bizarre things going on with this situation that I can't chalk up to just mere coincidence, and this isn't the first (or second) time Kojima has screwed with people when revealing a new game of his. Either we're in for the greatest ARG marketing stunt in recent memory or an enormous PR disaster.
Also, (and I know this is going to sound bad) I'm not sure I'm going to have a lot of sympathy for Blue Box if this whole thing blows up in their face. They chose to market their game in the most vaguely and mysteriously possible way to get attention, and I can't even imagine what they were thinking with some of these tweets if this turns out not to be Silent Hill and/or Kojima related. I'm not endorsing them to get harrassed and death threats, but I honestly can't blame people for getting upset with Blue Box either.
ALSO, if this turns out to just be some mediocre, boring horror game, I'll start to seriously question Sony's reasoning for giving these studios and games front-and-center attention. Although, after them promoting Life of Black Tiger, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
@The_New_Butler they announced the delay not long ago on twitter due to localisation issues.
Im also waiting for the outrage when people spot the tweet from a few days ago that heavily hinted its coming to PC as well 😂
https://twitter.com/BBGameStudios/status/1406057231490203648?s=19
My guess is this game is a spiritual successor to pt made by kojima 😃
Kojima and Konami are still working together. There never was a falling out. It’s a manufactured lie. When Kojima was “laid off” from Konami, he received a going away party, for instance. The breadcrumbs are there. This whole ruse has been planted for ten years now, and it’s finally being confirmed as true on the 22nd. That’s what I believe anyway.
If this is all Kojima, the ARG of the ruse is singlehandedly my favorite experience related to gaming ever. It’s had its frustrations, sure, but it’s been really fun too.
This is the sequel to death stranding, now a first person game, called death standing. Where you have to stand in a forest. 12k graphics, 360 fps, hideo, "it's like watching paint dry. But in a forest"
@KundaliniRising333 the first 4, specially SH 2, which were developed by the original Japanese Team Silent are regarded as masterpieces of the horror game genre, and PT made by Kojima even if it was just a teaser became one of the most influential horror titles of the last decade, if you didn't liked them that's your problem, not the games' lol. Some later games developed by Western developers are indeed not as good, but the original 4 have fantastic reviews and people to this day keeps playing them. God knows what kind of trash games you play yourself thinking they're good.
lol
I'm just going to let this play out.
As a fan of the series since the original released on the PS1, I can't deal with too many more disappointments. Between the crappy Western sequels, famously terrible seventh-gen remasters, and everything that transpired with Silent Hills, I'm just tired.
If a collection/new game releases that's actually good, I'll buy it. Not counting my chickens until that day, though.
@RBMango So apparently saying there's no connection multiple times is not enough? Blue Box themselves is just doing trope-y things that happen in a lot of that Blair Witch type marketing.
I feel bad for this team if it turns out they are real and not at all associated with Kojima. I love most of Kojima's games but his fanbase is kind of crazy! 🤣
This is fascinating.
@JaysonWayne3121 lol your enthusiasm has convinced me. I'm on board.
@starbuck2212
I'm not fully onboard, as I said, but I do believe it is..... something! I also believe a Silent Hill game will be announced shortly.
Ok, I get people are excited for stuff, but tracking down the personal PSN account people involved and spamming it with messages is basically stalking.
I'd like to see Sony temporarily ban accounts harassing the guy over this. Particularly if their dumb enough to use their own PSN accounts to do so.
People take stuff far too seriously.
@Kidfried Kojima has done even that before. Moby Dick denied being involved with Kojima when The Phantom Pain first got announced. He even went as far as to hire an actor to pose as the fake head of the studio and plan a stunt interview with Keighley. It's not enough for me, especially since Blue Box doesn't do themselves any favors by leaning hard into the mystery and vagueness of their game and mere existence. Like I said, this is why I won't feel much sympathy for them if this kind of marketing tactic blows up in their face.
Why does it have to be Silent Hill? Hasn't there been a rumor of a remake of MGS for quite some time? Kojima did some blatant MGS referencing in the Death Stranding DC trailer, I mean MGS music was in it and I doubt Sony wants to get sued. So it could be a hint of some deal with Konami and Sony for MGS games and I could easily see it being revealed in the Director's Cut, if we're just making stuff up based on vague clues.
Didn't BBgames themselves say Abandoned was a cinematic survival game? They didn't say survival horror. MGS has been a cinematic survival game since Snake Eater.
Pfft.. No one owns a ps5, ps4 or bust
This one’s “but maybe…” levels are off the friggin’ charts. This poor, poor team of developers if this thing turns out to be nothing. I would be changing jobs, changing my address, maybe my name.
@RBMango Like I said, I don't believe Kohima has the sole right to being mysterious. I don't think the stuff we've seen so far is exclusively Kojima. But just out of interest, what do you think about the project is so clearly a signifier of Kojima? Because I think studios should be allowed to be mysterious. So they have to be mysterious in a Kojima way, for it to be "their fault" if it doesn't turn out to be a Kohima project.
And I didn't know about the Moby Dick denial by Kojima. That's interesting, I wasn't that into video games in 2012 I have to admit. Honestly, I'm kinda disappointed in Kojima. I think being mysterious is fine, but lying is kind of crossing a line in the sand, because then it is Kojima that has made it more difficult for other devs to be mysterious. Because once they delve into that genre, it will be very hard for them to distance themselves from Kojima if they want to keep an auto of secrecy around the project.
If this turns out to be a fluke, I'd say the fallout is on Kojima.
lol , sending messages over PSN huh ? goodluck with that . even the slighest ''big kid word'' will cost you a 7 day suspension , ahaha.
@RBMango That being said, the fact that he lied before makes it way more likely that there's something up here. So thanks for the info. Still don't believe it.
(I only knew about the actor part)
@Hordak You should have got one on day one like me.
just a bit of fun chill out people
If you think is this just a stun played by a small indie unknown studio then you guys need to open your eyes.... There is something bigger going on here. Maybe it isn't Silent Hill (maybe it is), but it is horror related. Kojima is probably involved in one way or another. Also chill, this is a fun thing to follow. It is not like you are giving this studio money beforehand or something.
1) The studio stated that it has been working with PS since 2015 (that long?)
2) This year the studio said (via PS blog) that the game is in early states of development, but don't worry it is planned to released Q4 of this year (what?). It also stated (via Twitter) what we saw (teaser) isn't really actually the game.
3) The studio is releasing an app next week on the PS5 to showcase something (meant to next Tuesday, now Friday). First time ever I have seen a small indie unknown studio do that (how? why?).
4) And there is also this whole Geoff Keighley thing going on (he is following the account, he is acting weird when ask about this studio, etc.)
Good old internet, taking things either out of context or over analyzing details, then creating hype cycles with the most over the top and unrealistic of expectations and then being dissappointed and sending people death threats because something wasnt exactly as they imagined in their heads. It happens over and over again.
I'm not saying I believe any of this, I'm just saying it's really weird. The only thing that keeps my eyebrow raised is that Sony hasn't stepped in to shut these rumors down. They usually don't let this kind of speculation run rampant.
Regardless, this is all way more entertaining than anything that happened during E3.
I heard it is a Megaman reboot.
Just stop propelling this nonsense until there's something of substance.
They better have something or the psychos of the internet will hunt them and their families down.
Playstation Lifestyle has written an amazing piece of investigative reporting on the issue, and you guys must read it! https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2021/06/16/blue-box-game-studios-abandoned-kojima-silent-hill/
I’m not sure why some people are so skeptical on this. This is obviously Kojima lol.
The only reason why i think this might be true, is that otherwise they would put a statement out every single day that this is one big misunderstanding. At least if they care for the future that is.
@jack22 you’re pretty good…
I'm starting to believe this now.
The old rumour about there being 2 Silent Hill game sin development, one PS exclusive and 1 multiformat, could be true after all.
@blinx01 one SH game being developed in Japan (presumably by KP and is PS5 exclusive) and the second one is developed by a western studio (Bloober, developer of the Medium, a multiplatform game). This is my wild guess..
Anecdotally speaking yes it seems like Blue Box is a cover, and yes, they’re gearing up to reveal something massive.
Is it Silent Hill x Hideo Kojima? No. Could it be one or the other? Absolutely. Either way it’s intriguing.
@Loftimus I literally said this to a friend the other day. Can totally see it!
I always thought Blue Box Game Studios was a play on Playstation Studios. Team blue and all that. Blue box being the PlayStation console. Plus the logos are similar too.
@NeonTiger it's all part of the fun really.
It looks like its either very stupid or very clever. (We ll know later)
Just my feeling. No offense intended.
🤷♂️
Edit.
Oh there funny parts are celebs (yes Jason) who say it's 100% kojima then later, maybe not 100% and later, oh It could be a disappointment.
So either way they try to look insiderish.. and will say 'I told you so" hahaha
Real or not this has been more entertaining than the entirety of e3.
The fact that this teaser app/reveal whatever it is got delayed from the 20’th to the 22’nd, and then today announced by Blue Box another delay to the 25’th, is annoying to say the least.
I hope it’s a good horror game at the end of the day but I’m not going to spend much time thinking about it further until it’s revealed.
So over the "hype train" BS used by the media.
I genuinely enjoy how the media puts this into a story and we can all speculate on it, and watch the drama unfold.
@get2sammyb Konami have started following Kojima on twitter.
@Snake_V5 Cacophony Valley?
BlueBox Game Studios. BB Game Studios. BB from Death Stranding. Boxes are synonymous with MGS. A studio filled with Kojima stories?
@get2sammyb What does your gut tell you? Is BB a real indie dev? Is the founder a “grifter”? Is it really Kojima? Is the IP really Silent Hills?
I feel like many people go to extremes of going all in on everything at face value or Kojima/Silent Hills when there are other possibilities.
@JaysonWayne3121 Thank you so much for sharing this. I'm out of the loop and this made me start to believe and get excited.
@spcspc Thanks for sharing this juicey article.
Yeah, this is getting atention and sales to the game.
I don't think it's Kojima related, but geoff getting involved is suspicious.
Regardless, i still don't buy it.
@Alpha_Pulse
Yes that's what I find most troubling. The somewhow naivety of the logo, names, replies etc etc..
And they explained BLUE as Best Level User Experience. Just seems so naive idk
With all due respect to them of course.
If this isn't a big reveal of a Silent Hill remake/reboot, I think we should blame Sony rather than this small developer. Sony have been extremely tight lipped about any upcoming PlayStation Studios work and exclusives, and so people are now blowing up the smallest of details in anything they can find. We really want to know where PlayStation is going this generation, and after a big E3 showing from Xbox, we just want a response from Sony. Sony don't need E3, but it's nice knowing when something could be scheduled to be revealed. Right now info is drip fed and I think that needs to change.
The YongYea video on the situation is good.
I'm okay if it's real or not.
Real: great bait and switch
Not real: fantastic marketing.
As I said on the other post. Bravo to the Puppetmaster, whomever they are. Regardless of the announcement that have successfully hit the goldmine for engagement.
I DO believe there is a Silent Hill game coming soon. Remember in 2020 this was constantly rumoured everywhere, then it's gone relatively quiet, until now. Whether it is this game (unlikely) is another story.
I don't think Kojima's involved, though this is some serious Kojima like moves, and there is plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest it is. But it could just be part of the carefully orchestrated hype train. There's plenty to say it isn't.
Roll on Friday.
Just checked their twitter and they have since deleted all of the "incriminating" tweets including the "Abandoned = s_______l" tweet that got a lot of people thinking this was Silent Hill. They have pinned a tweet, reiterating that the game isn't Silent Hill and are not working with Hideo Kojima. I think they are now setting the record straight and admitting they messed up and need to damage control before everyone screams at them on Friday when we get access to the trailer app and it shows it definitely isn't Silent Hill. Oh well, I am bowing out from this conspiracy.
@Dr-M Of course! It is amazing and found convenient to share. They did an amazing job (the writers)
Actually getting tired of seeing this.
They clearly said on their Twitter that they have nothing to do with Konami or Kojima.
Their site is hosted in The Netherlands and managed by a tiny Dutch IT group.
All of their accounts: Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram, were all started January 2015, 3 months BEFORE Silent Hills was canceled, and 2 months before Kojima started talking about leaving Konami.
Blue Box Studios is a registered company in The Netherlands and has been since August 12th, 2015. All of their English text matches that, as the wording style and grammar mistakes are common among Scandinavian speakers.
Someone on Reddit found someone who actually did the work and actually called the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and they confirmed it is a real company and the owner is not Kojima, as you are required to verify your identity to register a company.
They also previously worked on a totally different game that got as far as Greenlight before getting canceled.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/o1850v/blue_box_games_is_a_real_dutch_studio_founded_in/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_body
You're all wrong and need to stop harassing this poor company.
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