Abandoned on PS5 continues to be the biggest tease of the year

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By Adam Vjestica
last updated

Conspiracies galore, but there’s still no sight of it

Abandoned title screen text against a forest backdrop
(Image credit: Blue Box Games Studios)

After another public no-show, we still haven’t seen Abandoned on PS5. And more to the point, despite being announced in April on the PlayStation Blog, it’s hard to say with conviction what type of game Abandoned really is. 

What it could be, however, has people really excited.

A new trailer for Abandoned was supposed to be released on August 10, but it never materialized due to technical difficulties that seemingly couldn’t be resolved. That may sound odd, considering dropping a trailer on YouTube is hardly the greatest technical feat to accomplish, but Abandoned is using a native PS5 app to offer a “realtime experience” when it comes to the game’s trailers. 

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This isn’t the first time the developer Blue Box Game Studios has delayed its Abandoned reveal trailer, as it was initially supposed to arrive in June. Load up the app now, which is available to download from the PlayStation Store, and you’ll be greeted with a “Check back soon…” message.  

What is Abandoned?  

Abandoned has been shrouded in mystery ever since its reveal, and has somehow managed to spawn more wild conspiracy theories than you’d hear at a flat-earthers' convention. From being a secret Hideo Kojima project to Silent Hill, it’s hard to keep track of it all unless you have an evidence board to hand.

Blue Box Game Studios hasn’t exactly done itself any favors, either. The studio has previously teased a blurred image of what appeared to be a figure wearing an eye-patch (Solid Snake, anyone?) and wrote what can only be considered as an ill-advised tweet, asking fans to guess the letters between S and L. Of course, everybody replied “Silent Hill”.

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The sheer number of conspiracies have led the Abandoned dev team to publicly deny any links to Konami and Hideo Kojima, but that hasn’t stopped the Twittersphere from continually piecing bits of evidence together to make surprisingly plausible links. Even the studio’s Twitter handle is a little suspect: @BBGameStudios. As Death Stranding fans will know, a BB is a Bridge Baby, which is a key component in Hideo Kojima’s last game.

In fact, the most recent teaser from Blue Box Game Studios shows a man walking towards what appears to be an open door. The man is wearing a green coat, jeans and fairly smart-looking shoes. That wouldn’t mean much in any other game, but it’s almost a match for the outfit worn by James Sunderland in… Silent Hill. 

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Will we ever get closure? 

What we do know is that Abandoned is a first-person “cinematic survival sim” that’s supposed to arrive on PS5 later this year. And, whatever the hell it turns out to be, the game’s marketing team are either geniuses or off their rocker. 

If there’s one thing that won’t be abandoned anytime soon, it’s the hype for a PS5 game that almost everyone has an opinion on. Until we hear more, you can expect speculation to be rife, ridiculous and sometimes… dangerously believable.

Adam Vjestica
Adam Vjestica

Adam was formerly TRG's Hardware Editor. A law graduate with an exceptional track record in content creation and online engagement, Adam has penned scintillating copy for various technology sites and also established his very own award-nominated video games website. He’s previously worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor and once played Halo 5: Guardians for over 51 hours for charity. He is now an editor at The Shortcut.