Abandoned developer forced to deny Kojima collab rumours
Mystery box.
Blue Box Game Studios, developer of mysterious PlayStation 5 exclusive Abandoned, has issued a statement denying the project is a secret collaboration with Hideo Kojima.
Whispers the Dutch studio was working with the legendary Metal Gear Solid creator were sparked by a teasing reveal of its new project Abandoned on the PlayStation blog yesterday - and fuelled by Kojima fans curious who the little-known Blue Box Game Studios really was.
Abandoned is described as a cinematic survival sim, set in a snowy and ultra-realistic looking wilderness. Its first teaser, below, received praise for its visuals and creepy setting - with parallels to Silent Hill's atmosphere being drawn.
"Our response to the Hideo Kojima Rumours," reads an update to the otherwise blank Blue Box Game Studios website. "We received several emails regarding the Hideo Kojima rumour. We have no association with Hideo Kojima nor do we claim to have any association nor was it our intention to claim such a statement. We are a small group of developers working on a passionate title we wanted to work on for a long time.
"We have been assisting other studios in the past with their projects and we wanted to work on our very first big project. While it is true that we've been working on small projects in the past, we certainly didn't use that for marketing purposes. We hope this has clarified this matter and hope to see you all in our very first gameplay reveal of Abandoned."
Of course, reading that, some Kojima fans are still not convinced and think the situation is another misdirect similar to the bizarre fake developer that originally teased Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain, or some tease for the Silent Hill game we may see revealed this summer. To be clear, there's zero evidence for either of these things being real - or that Abandoned is anything other than what it says it is.
As for Kojima, tongues were set wagging by a recent Xbox broadcast in which boss Phil Spencer prominently placed a Death Stranding figurine behind his desk. That, perhaps, is something a little more worth keeping an eye on.