Statements by people close to the project suggest that Blue Box Game Studios has made little or no progress on Abandoned.
Dutch developer Blue Box Game Studios has revealed the PS5 exclusive title Abandoned for the first time in 2021, promising it will launch later that year. However, the company doesn’t appear to have made any significant progress since then. Now, it looks like this survival horror title won’t be coming anytime soon or maybe never at all. Although the developers have not officially canceled Abandoned, a new report indicates that the developers may not be actively working on the game at all.
According to Gamespot, several people close to the project confirmed that Abandoned is being paused due to lack of funding. Project lead Hasan Kahraman said Blue Box Studios is working on a playable prologue to find financial support for the game, but the studio hasn’t made much progress. More than just a case of poor management and unrealistic goals, a top developer’s lack of steady development and constant breaking of promises can be partly attributed to problems with developers. multiple changes of Abandoned.
Originally introduced as a survival horror game about a man abducted by an evil cult, the plot was later said to have had to be rewritten many times. In the process, Abandoned experimented with and eliminated concepts like AI and vampires, with one source describing the game as adopting the concept of vampires looking like a Resident Evil clone. Abandoned is said to have wavered between the original survival horror idea and becoming an action game. Kahraman has since reverted to the original idea of a first-person horror game about a cult in a wilderness, but there’s still nothing finished in the title to show off other than a few walls. and unfinished assets. As GameSpot’s Mark Delaney put it, “there is currently no solid evidence that Abandoned exists in any real way”.
Games with unclear vision are not uncommon, but Kahraman’s behavior regarding this mysterious title is perhaps unique. Most of the information came from members of a private online chat room, who told stories of Kahraman’s dishonesty and mood swings. According to these sources, he dismissed potential business partners as a “scam,” attempting to pursue a romantic relationship with a team member, while making demands and quirky job offer.
Many sources describe Abandoned’s internal chat group as a malicious community where members are pressured to support the game while being punished for criticizing or asking questions. Kahraman also became more paranoid after community members reported leaking some of Abandoned’s unfinished assets. Some chat room members were asked to sign dubious non-disclosure agreements that required them to provide personal information, and notably lacked professional language.
Even Kahraman’s studio, Blue Box Studios, exists under a fog of suspicion and conflicting information. Kahraman claims to have a team of about fifty people developing Abandoned. However, Blue Box Studios’ registration with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce lists only ten employees. Honestly, the story in the development of Abandoned seems to have more mysteries and twists than the plot of a real horror game.
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